Shakshouka – simply egg-static!

Time for a Confession.

There are certain days when I hardly want to do anything at all… except binging on Mr. Firth’s movies, that is. Surely, I suffer from this quandary more than anyone I know of. But with a self-imposed regulation to eat healthy and cook from scratch as much as possible and being an insufferable foodie myself, I can’t sustain on toasts and instant noodles for too long.

I chanced upon this egg dish about 3 years back when I made it with what was in the refrigerator for a hungover brunch and then forgot about it … right until last month, when the little one had a playdate and I thought of putting together a quick meal for us mums and had a flashback! It tasted as good the second time and so we tried it again last week, when the husband was home and he got equally amazing results with my instructions. Suffice to say, anyone can make it if he can!

We did a quick search on the internet and found a traditional Tunisian dish quite similar to what we had (and I honestly thought I was being original!) called Shakshouka, literally meaning a mixture of sorts. It really is easy, yum, healthy and hearty- it’s a one pot recipe, quite adaptable in terms of ingredients (pick one, drop another) and can be had at brunch, lunch, supper, or anytime in between.

Anyway, without much further ado, here’s my take on the classic:

Ingredients

As I said, take or remove the ones you don’t like, except maybe the eggs…its after all an egg dish J

• Olive oil – 2 tbsp
• Eggs – 4nos
• Garlic- chopped – 4 nos
• Green chillies – chopped – 2 nos
• Onion – chopped – 2 medium or 1 large
• Peppers – mixed, chopped or sliced – 1 no
• Tomato – chopped – 2-3 nos or a can
• Tomato puree – 2 tbsp
• Sugar – 1 tsp
• Spinach –chopped- 1 cup
• Cumin powder – 2 tsp
• Smoked paprika powder – 1 tsp
• Red chilli flakes – 1 tsp
• Salt and pepper – to taste
• Feta cheese – to taste
• Fresh chopped herbs for garnishing – I used coriander leaves once and mint on another, try basil too, if you must

Procedure:

• Heat oil in a large frying pan, preferably with a lid. Add the garlic and green chillies and fry for a minute. Add the chopped onions, season it and fry on medium heat with lid on till it softens.
• Add the chopped tomato and tomato puree along with the sugar and mix well. Add in the cumin, paprika and chilli flakes and cook for 2 mins.
• Add in the chopped/sliced peppers and cook until they soften and then add the chopped spinach. Cook for another minute, until the whole mixture looks mushy.
• Spread it out across the pan and make four small ‘pockets’ – crack an egg in to each pocket, season as needed and cover it and reduce heat to minimum. Let it simmer until the egg white solidifies.
• Garnish with crumbled feta cheese and fresh, chopped herbs.

A well-made dish will have a slightly runny egg yolk. Serve hot with some toasts or fresh bread, some thick yoghurt or some baba ganoush, as we did. Bliss!

Give it a try on an especially lazy day and let me know how you enjoyed it. Also, let me know what alterations you would choose to make to the dish, so I give it a try next time?!

Right, that’s for today. I will go back to watching Colin Firth again – any suggestions in this regard too shall be most welcome. 😉

So long.