My girlfriend introduced me to this dish when were in Bulgaria in the Peace Corps. It's incredibly simple and totally satisfying, and a great week night dish. I can imagine a million variations -- in the photo above, they've got some chorizo links wrapped in bacon. That'd be good, but it's really not necessary. Two eggs and a big mound of rice and I was a very happy camper.
The sauce you wan to be something very simple, with a big emphasis on a fresh tomato flavor -- I love highly seasoned tomato sauces, but for this you want something that will let the unctuousness of the egg yolk shine through. To that end, I've been using Marcella Hazan's simple four ingredient tomato sauce -- a simple dish that lends also lends itself to an almost infinite number of variations. But this is how I did it last night, and I was very pleased.
Cuban rice with fried egg and tomato sauce
For the sauce:
1 large can of crushed tomatoes
5 tbs butter
1 onion, cut in half and peeled
Salt and pepper
a cup steamed rice of your choice per serving
2 eggs with soft yolks per serving
Combine the ingredients for the sauce in a small sauce pot and bring to a gentle simmer. Stir in the butter when it melts and allow to simmer for half an hour to forty minutes -- basically until the rice and eggs are ready. Discard the onion before serving.
Cook rice however you want -- there are garlic rice recipes that would definitely be more authentic and delicious, but this was more of a week night thing, so I wanted something simple. To that end, I just dumped some medium grain rice in my rice cooker and turned it on. That usually takes about twenty-five minutes, so by the time it was ready, the sauce was ready as well.
For the eggs, again, however you like your eggs done, as long as the yolks are soft. I fried them, but poached or soft-boiled eggs would also be delicious, and a bit healthier. Up to you!
Combine all ingredients on a plate and stir them together to combine the yolk with the tomato sauce and enjoy!