Food & Recipes

Recipe for Shakshuka with Red Peppers

Shakshuka with Red Peppers

This recipe comes by way of Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. It caught my eye because I love eggs – the more runny the yolk, the better. Not only that, but I love eggs for any meal, especially dinner. They are my go-to in many forms when I can’t think of anything else to make or am too lazy to get crazy in the kitchen. This is a recipe I found on one of my favorite sites, Epicurious. It is from their April 2015 edition and is by an amazing pair of chef partners in London, Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi. If you have the opportunity, do not miss one of their restaurants in London.

If you’re like me you will need some toasted or grilled bread to soak up the vegetable/tomato mix that is with the eggs. Dipping is one of my favorite things to do. This makes an exceptionally easy Sunday night dinner for two. In fact, I think I’m going to put that on the calendar!

Ingredients

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil
  • 2 tablespoons Pilpelchuma or harissa
  • 2 teaspoons tomato paste
  • 2 large red peppers, cut into 1/4-inch / 0.5cm dice (2 cups / 300 g in total)
  • 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 5 large, very ripe tomatoes, chopped (5 cups / 800 g in total); canned are also fine
  • 4 large free-range eggs, plus 4 egg yolks
  • 1/2 cup / 120 g labneh or thick yogurt
  • Salt

Instructions

  1. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat and add the pilpelchuma or harissa, tomato paste, peppers, garlic, cumin, and 3/4 teaspoon salt. Stir and cook over medium heat for about 8 minutes to allow the peppers to soften. Add the tomatoes, bring to a gentle simmer, and cook for a further 10 minutes until you have quite a thick sauce. Taste for seasoning.
  2. Make 8 little dips in the sauce. Gently break the eggs and carefully pour each into its own dip. Do the same with the yolks. Use a fork to swirl the egg whites a little bit with the sauce, taking care not to break the yolks. Simmer gently for 8 to 10 minutes, until the egg whites are set but the yolks are still runny (you can cover the pan with a lid if you wish to hasten the process). Remove from the heat, leave for a couple of minutes to settle, then spoon into individual plates and serve with the labneh or yogurt.
  3. I have two suggestions with this recipe (they were part of the reviews section and I agree with them both):
    • Saute the garlic, peppers first and add some sliced onions to the mix – Whenever I have had Shakshuka in a restaurant there are always onions in the mix.
    • Definitely cover the pan with a lid to insure that the whites of the eggs get cooked

 

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