Welcome to the New Year everyone – 2021 is behind us and ’22 is ahead.
Our New Year’s brunch tradition is Shakshuka.
Shakshuka is a Middle-Eastern dish that is not only perfect for breakfast and brunch, but also for a quick and delicious dinner.
Best of all, it truly easy to make. Let’s do this…
Ingredients Overview
Quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil – Don’t scrimp on cheap olive oil!
Onion and Red Pepper –
Spices – Roasted cumin, smoked paprika and cayenne pepper.
Tomatoes – Fire roasted, canned and chopped is best.
Eggs – Free range or organic if you have them.
Ingredient specifics
▢14oz / 389g Chopped (Fire roasted) Tomatoes
▢ 2 large Eggs
▢ 2 tbsp Good Quality Extra Virgin Olive Oil
▢ 2 cloves of Garlic, finely diced or 1 TBSP minced garlic
▢ 1 medium Red Pepper, finely diced (optional)
▢ 1 small White Onion, finely diced
▢ 1 tsp Cumin
▢ 1/2 tsp Salt, or to taste
▢ 1/2 tsp Sugar
▢ 1.5 tsp Smoked Paprika
▢ 1/4 tsp Cayenne Pepper, or to taste
▢ 1/4 tsp Black Pepper, or to taste
▢ Feta, crumbled to serve
▢ Fresh Parsley or Cilantro/Coriander, finely diced to serve
1.) Fry pepper and onion in olive oil until softened and beginning to brown. About 5 minutes.
2.) Add garlic and fry for a couple of minutes longer.
3.) Stir in spices.
4.) Pour in tomatoes and season (salt, pepper, sugar). Leave to simmer for 5 mins.
5.) Crack in eggs and cook. (see additional tips!)
The skinny of this is: You are cracking eggs into a “sauce” – there are many ways of approaching this, the quick way or the slow way. Many adherents suggest a long slow simmer to thicken the sauce. The problem with that is that you lose moisture and the sauce dries up. I believe in adding the ingredients after simmering the sauce for 5 minutes (medium heat) until it just begins to reduce. Make a divot in the sauce to hold two eggs. Crack in the eggs into the divots, turning the heat to low to simmer for 10 minutes. From there, cover the skillet and poach the eggs for an additional 2 minutes. Ideally, you want soft yolks, so there may be some practice required here.
Note: The feta cheese and parsley is actually sprinkled onto the serving plates — not into the pan!
Colin Newell is an ancient 20th Century writer, photographer and electronics expert. He has roamed the streets of Planet Earth looking for genuinely good coffee and food. As always, if any of these recipes don’t seem quite clear, send me a note. Answers guaranteed!