Shakshuka Recipe: A Versatile Middle-Eastern Delight

Shakshuka is a Middle-Eastern tomato stew with eggs baked into it, and it’s one of those dishes that everyone should know how to cook. It’s basically just tomato, eggs, and cheese.

You can’t go wrong.

• It’s so cheap to make: most of the ingredients are pantry staples, and generally cheap
• It’s so healthy: eggs, tomatoes, veggies and even cheese are generally considered healthy ingredients

The best part about shakshuka, though, is that it’s very versatile. You should think of this recipe as a foundation which you can add to or adjust as you like. You can add more spices or vegetables to the sauce, or you could swap out the toppings with whatever you prefer.

In this shakshuka recipe, for example, I’ve specified a few spices that you could use. But feel free to use whatever spices you have on hand, or omit the spices entirely if you don’t have any at hand. Either way, don’t go out and buy more spices. Keep it cheap and use what you have.

Shakshuka recipe

Ingredients

Serves: 2

• 1 shallot or onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 red bell pepper
• 300g Brussels sprouts
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Cumin, paprika, coriander seeds (optional)
• 100ml white wine, veggie stock or water
• 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 4 eggs
• 150g feta cheese (you could use any cheese here, grated)
• Fresh herbs (e.g. chives, mint, coriander, parsley), minced or finely chopped
• 1/2 lemon/lime juice
• Black pepper
• Salt

Directions

1. Pre-heat the oven to 200^oC/400^oF (or 185^oC/375^oF if using convection).
2. Prep the veg: finely dice the onion, crush and roughly chop the garlic, roughly dice the bell pepper.
3. Prepare the sprouts by trimming the stems, halving them, and removing the outer layer.
4. Toss the sprouts with a little bit of salt, pepper and oil then lay them out on a roasting tray with space between them.
5. Place them in the oven for about 15 minutes until they caramelise. Remove and set aside once finished. Leave the oven on.
6. Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil in an oven-safe frying pan or Dutch oven (e.g. cast-iron, stainless steel, etc. Nothing with plastic handles as the pan will go in the oven later).
7. Immediately add the pepper and shallots and cook until soft, about 5-10 minutes.
8. Add the garlic, fry for 30 seconds. Then add the tomato puree and fry for 30 seconds to bring out its flavour.
9. Note: while I haven’t incorporated spices in this recipe, you may include cumin, paprika, coriander seeds, or other spices at this point, if preferred. Adding them now will bring out their flavour. Do not fry them for too long else they will burn.
10. Deglaze the pan with the white wine, stock or water.
11. Stir everything together and add the chopped tomatoes.
12. Simmer for approx. 15 minutes until the sauce is thick. It should not be runny.
13. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning as desired.
14. Make a hole in the sauce the size of an egg and immediately crack an egg in. Repeat in different points in the pan until all eggs are used. Immediately season the eggs.
15. A few minutes later, garnish with the roasted Brussels sprouts and crumbled feta.
16. Add the pan to the oven for approx. 5 minutes, then switch to grill mode for approx. 2 minutes until the eggs have set. (If you don’t have an oven, just lower the heat of the pan, add a lid and let the steam of the pan cook the eggs).
17. Garnish with fresh herbs and lemon/lime juice.
18. Serve the shakshuka straight to the table from the pan. I like to serve it over toast.