This is an amazing dish. Shakshuka is a tomato sauce with lots of spices that are used to cook eggs in and is served with pita bread. It’s from the Middle East and it’s usually served during breakfast or brunch and it’s as good as it looks. I love to make it and share with everyone from one same pan.
Each country in the Middle East has its own version of Shakshuka and use different spices for it. I have made Shakshuka for a while now with this recipe but in June I prepared it with chef Atalya in Israel, on a trip I went to with Vibe Israel. I really recommend that you book a cooking class or private dinner with Atalya if you go to Israel. She cooks in an incredible house in a lovely area close to Jerusalem, she’s a lovely person and her food is amazing. Thankfully when I cooked Shakshuka with her I realised my recipe is actually fine! I have to say I felt proud at that moment :).
You will feel very satisfied after you’re done with your breakfast or brunch with this dish. The nice thing is that it’s also quite healthy because it’s a tasty tomato sauce with eggs that are served with pita bread. It sounds simple but it’s incredibly delicious and takes flight in your mouth with all those spices. You can give this recipe a head start by making the tomato sauce beforehand. You can keep it in a container in the fridge for up to 5 days and in the freezer for up to 3 months. Then when it comes the time to serve you just reheat the sauce in a pan and cook the eggs in it. That way you don’t have to get up at 5 am to make breakfast ;).
This dish is typically finished with fresh coriander leaves. However, if you have been following me for a while you might know I cannot stand coriander, lol. That’s why I served it with baby rocket and it turned out SO nice. So there you go, another option for you to choose from.
The tomato sauce minus the eggs can be frozen perfectly for up to 3 months. So maybe it would be a good idea for you to make double the recipe in one go and freeze half of it for another day :). As a matter of fact, you can also have it ready from the night before your breakfast or brunch in the fridge, where it keeps for up to 5 days. To use the sauce after refrigerating or freezing, you need to heat it up nicely before inserting the eggs so that they cook evenly.
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 medium brown onion in small cubes
- 2 garlic cloves pressed, grated or finely chopped
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 900 g roma tomatoes really ripe. If you can't get them ripe then buy canned
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper it's spicy, omit if you prefer
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp paprika
- 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
- Salt to taste
- 6 eggs
- Baby rocket leaves or coriander to garnish
- Pita bread to serve
Instructions
- Cook the onion along with the spices and olive oil on a pan over medium heat until it goes soft, translucent and smells sweet.
- Add the garlic cloves and tomato paste and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the peeled and chopped tomatoes. Still over medium heat, let the tomatoes go soft and release their juices. You also want the sauce to thicken in this process.
- Taste the sauce and correct the level of salt. Turn off the heat.
- Make a hole in the sauce using a spoon and drop an egg in there. Repeat with all the eggs.
- Return the pan to medium-low heat and cover it to let the eggs cook. I like them when the egg white is cooked but the yolk is still soft. This takes 5-8min approximately.
- Garnish with the leaves of your choice and serve hot with pita bread.
