Shakshuka

Shakshuka (Israeli Eggs in Spiced Tomato-Pepper Sauce)

A North African dish that became a staple of Israeli home cooking: eggs poached in a spiced sauce of tomatoes, sweet peppers and onion, finished with herbs and crumbled feta, served straight from the pan with bread.

Prep

10 min

Cook

25 min

Total

35 min

Serves

4

Difficulty

Easy

Recipe ingredients

• •30 ml (2 tbsp) olive oil
• •1 whole (1 medium) onion, yellow, finely diced
• •2 whole (2 medium) red bell peppers, deseeded and diced
• •4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• •10 g (1½ tsp) ground cumin
• •10 g (1½ tsp) sweet paprika
• •3 g (½ tsp) chilli flakes, adjust to taste; Aleppo pepper is traditional
• •400 g (14 oz) tinned chopped tomatoes, two standard cans, or 400 g ripe tomatoes grated
• •5 g (1 tsp) caster sugar, balances acidity; optional
• •5 g (1 tsp) salt, plus extra to taste
• •2 g (½ tsp) black pepper, freshly ground
• •5 whole (5 large) eggs, free-range, at room temperature
• •15 g (¼ cup) fresh coriander, roughly chopped; parsley is a common substitute
• •60 g (2 oz) feta cheese, crumbled; traditional but optional

Steps

1. 1 Heat the olive oil in a 25 cm (10 inch) cast-iron or heavy-based frying pan over medium heat. Add the diced onion and a pinch of salt and cook for 4-5 minutes until soft and translucent.
2. 2 Add the diced red pepper and cook for another 5-6 minutes, stirring occasionally, until softened and lightly caramelised at the edges.
3. 3 Stir in the garlic, cumin, paprika and chilli flakes and cook for 60 seconds until fragrant, taking care not to burn the spices.
4. 4 Pour in the chopped tomatoes, add the sugar, season with salt and pepper, and stir well. Simmer uncovered for 8-10 minutes, until the sauce has thickened enough that a spoon leaves a brief trail across the base of the pan. Taste and adjust seasoning.
5. 5 Using the back of a spoon, make 5 shallow wells in the sauce. Crack one egg into each well. Cover the pan with a lid (or a large baking tray) and reduce the heat to low.
6. 6 Cook for 5-7 minutes, until the whites are completely set and opaque. Check by gently touching a white with a fingertip: it should feel firm, not slippery, and the white must never be translucent or runny. An instant-read thermometer in the thickest part of a yolk should read at least 71 C (160 F) once the whites are set.
7. 7 If you want soft, runny yolks, use pasteurised eggs, or cook the eggs to firm yolks as described here and serve a spoonful of the thick sauce over them. For young children, the elderly, pregnant women or anyone with a compromised immune system, cook until both yolk and white are firm, adding 1-2 minutes more if needed.
8. 8 Remove from the heat, scatter generously with chopped coriander and crumble the feta over the top. Serve immediately in the pan, with plenty of crusty bread for scooping. Refrigerate any leftovers within 2 hours and reheat them until steaming hot before eating.