There are many wonderful recipes in Middle Eastern cuisine, one of our favourites being shakshuka. Juicy scrambled eggs baked with a fragrant and thick tomato sauce, seasoned with spices, enhanced with onions, garlic and garnished with cilantro and cheese. Shakshuka is not only a hearty weekday meal, but also a great hangover breakfast or lunch. Shakshuka is also a chance not to throw anything away: you can put pieces of yesterday’s chicken or steak, leftover tomato from last night’s dinner and much more.
We’ve prepared a classic shakshuka in our editorial kitchen – it’s simple, easy and reminiscent of the south.
1.
Prepare all the ingredients. We are making this shakshuka in winter, so we decided to enhance the tomato flavour and, for lack of sweet fresh tomatoes, combined pasta and canned tomatoes chopped together.
2.
Dice one onion and put it in a pan with 30 ml of olive oil. We used red onions: they are sweet and go great with tomato sourness. But if you have some other onions on hand, such as white onions or shallots, feel free to use them.
3.
Chop two cloves of garlic finely with a knife or pass them through a press. If the garlic has sprouted and has a green sprout living inside it when you peel it, remove the greens: they give off a strong bitterness.
4.
Chop 15 grams of coriander. The stalks, which contain the most flavour, can be finely chopped and the leaves torn. The amount of cilantro can be varied – put more or less. It can also be changed to parsley if there is no cilantro or if the smell is unbearable.
5.
Break 60 grams of feta into pieces. It can also be sliced, but it is best chopped. The feta may or may not be salty – the shakshuka will accept any.
6.
Add the spices: a teaspoonful of zira, half a teaspoonful of smoked paprika and the same amount of oregano. Add the spices to the onions – the heat and proximity to the oil will quickly give off their flavour and aroma.
7.
When everything is browned, add the garlic and half of the red pepper, diced. The garlic has a different burning temperature and should be kept in the pan for much less. The peppers should brown slightly and get a light crust that will give their flavour to the shakshuka.
8.
Add 400 grams of tinned tomatoes and 20 grams of tomato paste to the onions and spices. Both pasta and tomatoes come in different degrees of sweetness, choose the one that suits you best. Season the sauce with salt. If the feta you are using is too salty, salt it very carefully.
9.
Stir the contents of the pan thoroughly, make small wells in the sauce and crack an egg into each one – 4 eggs will fit in here harmoniously.
10.
Place the feta slices on top. Save some of the cheese for last to place on top of the cooked shakshuka before serving. Put the pan into the oven for 7-10 minutes. During this time, the egg white should set and the yolk should remain liquid. It is not necessary to cover the pan, otherwise the eggs will be covered with a white film. If you don’t have an oven, you can make chakshuka on the cooker, on a low heat – then you still need to use a lid to make the eggs cook. With this method, the yolk will inevitably be covered in a white white film, which you can remove by picking it up gently with a fork.
11.
Traditionally, shakshuka is served with a flatbread or pita, which should first be held in a hot, dry frying pan. If you don’t have a pita, do the same with any other white or grey bread.
12.
Garnish the finished shakshuka with cilantro, feta slices, flakes of chilli pepper taken to taste. Eat it quickly before it gets cold by dipping slices of bread into it.
