Spring Cooking: Shakshuka Recipe

We think this shakshuka recipe breakfast makes the perfect start to a weekend. It’s simple to make and the shared nature of this dippy dish gets the whole household involved.

Ingredients: 

• 50ml olive oil
• 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
• 1 red pepper, deseeded and thinly sliced
• ½ tsp chilli flakes
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ½ tsp smoked, hot or sweet paprika to taste
• 3 medium tomatoes, chopped
• ½ tsp caraway seeds
• 2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
• 8 eggs
• 50g feta, crumbled
• A handful of coriander leaves, chopped
• Salt and pepper, to taste
• Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
• 1 whole loaf of good white sourdough

Method:

1. Start by preheating your oven to 200C then grab a large, oven-proof frying pan and warm it up over medium heat. Toast the caraway seeds until they’re all lovely and fragrant then add the olive oil and let it warm through, frying the toasted seeds for another minute or two.
2. Next up, add the onion and pepper. When it’s all soft and jammy – 10 to 15 minutes – stir in your chilli flakes, cumin and paprika and cook for another couple of minutes. Tip in the chopped fresh tomatoes, give it a good stir and cook for five more minutes before adding the tinned ones. Bring to a boil, season with salt and pepper, then cook for two minutes more.
3. It’s best to turn down the heat at this point and let it simmer for around 15-20 minutes for the sauce to thicken. When it’s a rich, dark red, turn off the heat and let it cool down a bit.
4. Next, take a wooden spoon and hollow out eight little wells in the surface of your sauce to crack the eggs into. Taking care not to break the yolk, use a fork to gently bury the egg whites under the sauce but leave the yolks on show.
5. Crumble the feta everywhere but the egg yolks, drizzle with olive oil then place in the oven. After five minutes, the yolks should be just set. If you like them completely hard, give it another five minutes before sprinkling with coriander and drizzling with a touch more olive oil.

And that’s it. All that’s left is to rally the troops and tuck into this delicious shakshuka recipe with a fresh loaf of crusty white sourdough. Enjoy.