Cedar Writes

Shakshuka

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by

Cedar Sanderson
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I’m doing my own version of this recipe because frankly, it is super annoying to scroll for days through a food blog’s blather and ads and god-forbid-auto-playing videos… 

So here it is (printable version below the tutorial version). Preheat your oven to 375F 

  • 2-3 cubanelle peppers, seeded and diced. (I also threw in a couple little sweet peppers) 
  • 1 large onion, diced small
  • 2-3 tbsp diced garlic
  • 2 tbsp butter

In a large skillet, melt the butter over med-high heat, then add the peppers, onions, and garlic. Saute until translucent.

Peppers, onions, and spices

Add in: 

  • 1/4 tsp nutmeg
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • 2 tsp Harissa (or double up on the paprika and cumin)

Once the spices are fatted, add in: 

  • Large can (28 oz) Fire roasted crushed tomatoes
Eggs in, ready to go in oven.

Simmer gently for ten minutes to allow flavors to meld.

Stir in: 

  • 3/4 cup feta (chop or crumble 1 cup, but reserve some for garnish)

Once well combined, gently break 5-6 eggs on top of the sauce. I found making a little hole with their shell as I opened it to release the egg, after cracking, worked well. 

Place skillet in oven. Bake for 10-15 minutes, until eggs are slightly opaque on top but still give a little shimmy when you gently shake the pan.

The eggs when done for runny yolks – you could leave it in another 5 minutes for solid yolks.

Move to table, and allow to cool for a few minutes. Contents are lava. Seriously, let it cool a little. The eggs will keep cooking, which is why you wanted them to shimmy for you. 

Garnish with feta, chopped parsley or cilantro, and serve. I added kalamata olives on top of mine, but if your family is olive-friendly, cook them in the sauce and it’ll be even better. 

Makes enough for 3-4 moderate eaters.

So beautiful! And such a fast, easy meal to prep up and dirty only one pot.

This was not particularly spicy, I’d call it a 2 on the Korean food 1-5 scale. You could increase that by adding more Harissa, or some red pepper flakes. 

I’m looking forward to varying this up a lot. I can easily see doing it with tomatillos (the tomato-hater will eat them, yes, I know that makes no sense). It would be great with pita, or a nice fresh loaf of bread for mopping, but I’m going low-carb currently. The First Reader had crackers and pronounced it good. It wasn’t actually that runny, so you can (I did!) eat it as it is.

I like my yolks runny! Contrary to popular belief, this does not leave you open to salmonella, the contamination is from the surface of the shell and is isolated from the yolk. Eating a runny yolk in a cooked egg is perfectly safe and healthy.

 
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Comments

4 responses to “Shakshuka”

  1. Doug Avatar
    Doug

    Fatted spices? Ya got me there.

    1. Cedar Sanderson Avatar
      Cedar Sanderson

      That’s the best way to extract the volatile flavor compounds from the spices – cook them in your fat/grease/oil before you add your aqueous (water in the tomatoes in this case). You don’t want to put the in it before the peppers and onions here or you risk burning. You could if you were careful I suppose. Toasting spices is a fantastic way to get max flavor, but ground spices burn so fast.

    2. Dorothy Grant Avatar
      Dorothy Grant

      also called “let the spices bloom” – there are some flavours that are best extracted by oil, so I put them in the fat after sauteing things, and before adding wet stuff.

      There are some flavours that are best extracted with alcohol – thus deglazing the pan with alcohol, or adding same to braises and stews, or marinades. The wine or bourbon “makes things more flavourful” in more ways than one!

      1. Cedar Sanderson Avatar
        Cedar Sanderson

        And adding some red wine to this sauce, with a longer simmer time, would be fantastic.