Shakshuka
Shakshuka is a dish of eggs poached in a spiced tomato and pepper sauce, popular across North Africa and the Middle East. The sauce is typically made with onions, peppers, tomatoes, and seasonings like cumin and paprika, and the finished dish is often served with crusty bread for dipping.
Ingredients
Method
- Heat the olive oil in a large, lidded frying pan. Add the onions and peppers and season with salt and pepper. Cook on a medium heat until just softened. Add the garlic and cook for a further 2 minutes. Sprinkle in the cumin and caraway seeds and the cayenne pepper. Stir in the tomato or red pepper purée and cook for a couple more minutes until the paste starts to separate. Add the tomatoes with a splash of water
- Simmer for 10 minutes, uncovered, until reduced a little. Taste aft er 5 minutes and add a little sugar if you think the tomatoes need it. Keep an eye on the texture – you don’t want it runny, but it mustn’t get too dry, either. Add another splash of water if necessary. When the sauce is reduced, ,stir in the herbs.
- Make 8 small wells in the sauce. Break an egg into a cup and drop carefully into a well, repeat withthe remaining eggs. Cook for a few more minutes until the whites are just set and the yolks are stillrunny. Sprinkle over the crumbled feta. Serve with yogurt or labneh on the side.
Recipe tips
- It might be difficult to find space for 8 eggs in one large frying pan. At this stage, the sauce can be divided between two pans.
- Add 100g of kale or rainbow chard when you cook the onions for an extra vegetable boost.