Shakshuka (a Middle Eastern Vegetarian One Pot Meal)
Shakshuka is a hearty, yet remarkably light breakfast dish of eggs poached in a thick tomato based sauce. It hails from North Africa, but has long been an extremely popular dish all around the Middle East.
- Prep time
- 10 min
- Cook time
- 23 min
- Yield
- 4 servings
- Difficulty
- HARD
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp EV olive oil
- 1 medium onion
- 1 medium clove garlic
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp sweet smoked paprika
- 1 tsp chilli powder (mild or hot, up to you)
- 1 red capsicum (bell pepper)
- 1/2 tsp white sugar
- 800 g chopped tomatoes ((2 x 400g))
- 2 tbsp sundried tomato paste
- 1 tsp salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- 4 eggs
- 1 small handful flat leaf parsley ((curly will do too))
Instructions
- 1
Dice the onion and capsicum into 1 cm (just under 1") pieces and set them aside separately.
- 2
Finely chop the garlic.
- 3
Finely chop the parsley and set aside.
- 4
Heat the olive oil on medium-low heat, in a medium-sized frying pan or shallow casserole dish.
- 5
Fry the onions for 2 minutes, stirring regularly.
- 6
Add the garlic, fry for 30 seconds, then add the cumin, paprika and chilli powder. Stir it all around for another 30 seconds. Don't worry if it's dry.
- 7
Add the capsicum (bell pepper) and sugar, stir to coat the pieces with the spice mix in the pan.
- 8
Add the chopped tomatoes, the sundried tomato paste, and the salt. Increase the heat, stir, and bring to a boil. Then, lower the heat right down, and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes.
- 9
At the end of the 15 minutes, check seasoning, add more salt if you need it, and some freshly ground black pepper. Give the shakshuka base a good stir, then it's time to drop the eggs in.
- 10
Make a few small wells in the tomato sauce, and add the eggs in, one at a time, spacing them out. Cover and cook for 5-10 minutes until they are just set. The time will depend on how you like your eggs. I like the whites set but the yolk, still very runny, so 5 minutes is as long as I cook it at this stage.
- 11
Top it with plenty of freshly ground black pepper and the freshly chopped parsley and take it to the table and serve immediately.