Shakshouka
As someone who loves cooking, I also love going to restaurants that serve different cuisines to gain inspiration and ideas.
I love cuisine from all 7 continents and many countries in those continents and I think its such a shame to limit our lives and our palettes to one type of food. So, there’s a vegetarian mediterranean restaurant by my house that my partner and I frequent for special events (shout out to Rosemary & Vine! Definitely check it out if you’re ever in Westchester, NY). But the point is the first time I went my partner ordered a dish called Shakshouka. I had never seen this or heard of it before and had no idea what to expect, but let me tell you, I was not disappointed when it came out! It looked so beautiful and colorful and was comprised of such simple ingredients. I knew in that moment I’d have to remake it!
Shakshouka is a dish that originated in North Africa and quickly travelled to Middle East and Mediterranean regions. It was originally a peasant dish, so many will tell you the simpler you go with ingredients and spices, the better.
You start with a humble onion and bell pepper. Any kind of bell pepper you have on hand is great. Dice and add to a pre-heated cast iron skillet with olive oil. Add garlic and allow to cook down. Then add canned whole peeled tomatoes. Allow to cook down and break up the tomatoes as you go.
Add any spices you’d like and season to taste. This needs to cook off for quite a bit- a least around 30 minutes to get the tinny taste out of the tomatoes and to evaporate some water out of the mixture. About 5-10 minutes before you plan to serve, create small wells with the back of a wooden spoon and crack eggs. Cover skillet to allow eggs to poach and that’s it!!
Once the eggs are cooked but still runny, serve this up with anything of your choosing. I like feta and parsley, but you don’t have to add that. The only mandatory is there must be BREAD. I chose pita, but any sort of crusty bread will do.
This dish is simple and delicious and is a great dish to start exploring foods from other places. Don’t get stuck in what you know how to cook and the flavors you’re familiar with. Branch out and you might surprise yourself!
Enjoy!
Shakshouka
Ingredients:
- 28 oz can whole peeled tomatoes
- 4-5 eggs
- 1 large yellow onion
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 large bell pepper
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- crumbled feta (optional, if dairy free)
- cumin to taste
- paprika to taste
- chili powder to taste
- red chili flakes to taste
- salt to taste
Instructions:
- This dish is best cooked in a cast iron skillet or another large skillet. Preheat your skillet over medium low heat with olive oil while you prep vegetables
- Dice onions and peppers and mince garlic. Add to skillet to cook off until onions are translucent and garlic is fragrant.
- Add can of tomatoes, breaking up the whole tomatoes into manageable chunks. Add seasonings to taste. Bump up heat to medium and allow to cook off that metallic-y taste and the mixture is less water-y. For me this took about 35 minutes.
- Once you are satisfied with the tomatoes, turn heat back to medium low. Create 5 wells in the mixture with a wooden spoon large enough to crack the eggs. Crack eggs into the wells and cover the skillet, allowing the eggs to poach. The poaching process took about 7 minutes for me.
- Add feta and top with parsley. Serve in the skillet with pita bread, gluten free bread or any other crusty bread and (if you're like me) some vegetarian sausage to imitate sujuk (dried middle eastern beef sausage). Enjoy!
