Though this dish is traditionally made with angel hair pasta, quinoa spaghetti goes above and beyond as a stand-in; the flavor of the toasted quinoa noodle perfectly complements the Mexican spices and the rich chile-tomato broth. Garnished with Cotija or goat's-milk feta cheese, green onion, a healthy squeeze of lime juice, and cilantro, it’s truly a party on a plate. If you have leftovers (as if), scroll for a spectacular breakfast pasta dish that you can recreate with any pasta leftovers.
Mounds of leftover fideo fried in a cast-iron skillet, toad-in-the-hole-style with a sunny-side up egg cooked in the center, make a fantastic breakfast.
With wet hands shape 3⁄4 cup cold Quinoa Fideo (page 19) into a ball and flatten it slightly. Heat a cast-iron skillet for 5 minutes over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons of oil to the pan and quickly lay the cake down in the pan, pressing with a spatula to flatten it a little more. Let the cake cook until nicely browned, about 5 minutes. Flip the cake over and use the handle end of a wooden spoon to nudge a round hole into the cake, approximately 2 1⁄2 inches in diameter. Crack a room-temperature egg into a coffee cup and season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Carefully pour the egg into the center of the fideo cake. Cover the pan with a lid and lower the heat to medium-low. Cook until the white of the egg is just set and the yolk remains runny, about 3 to 4 minutes.