Shakshuka Recipe

Shakshuka (try saying that with a hangover) probably originated from North Africa, but it is eaten all over the Middle East and you'll find variations of it in Palestine, Israel and Egypt. It is one of those Middle Eastern dishes that anyone who makes it swear they have the only really good recipe for, handed down from their grandma, bubbe (Yiddish) or sitty (Palestinian Arabic). 

I cannot claim either to have the best recipe or a bubbe, and definitely no sitty, with her own recipe - my bubbe would have recoiled at the name bubbe (we knew her as Grandmama) and she was more likely to curdle her eggs along with any precociousness a grandchild might display.

Baked and poached egg dishes are made everywhere in the world and shakshuka is similar to huevos rancheros (Mexican), huevos a la flamenca (Spanish), cilbir (Turkish) and even our own simple baked or coddled eggs. Cilbir uses yogurt as its base and my mother used cream (we were occasionally decadent in 60s rural Yorkshire) in her version of coddled eggs, which is a form of poaching without the eggs making contact with the water, but this recipe is tomato-based and it’s versatility knows few bounds. It has a smoky and intense flavour from the slow-cooked tomatoes, sweet peppers and smoked chilli.

I added spinach which is not traditional, using proper full grown stuff with a deep, delicious and slightly metallic heft, none of your namby-pamby baby leaves unless you don’t have anything else.  

I will add tips and swaps at the end but basically you can put anything you like in this dish, but for a smidge of authenticity keep the base recipe similar to this one. Another joy of this dish is that it can be eaten for breakfast, lunch or dinner. Just add or subtract ingredients according to your appetite and preferences.

Serve it with zhug - it takes it to a whole other level.

Ingredients

• 2 tins of chopped tomatoes

• 3 cloves garlic, peeled and sliced finely

• 2 red peppers, cored and chopped roughly

• 250g spinach, washed, stalks removed and roughly chopped

• 4 eggs

• ½ tsp ground cumin

• ½ tsp ground coriander

• ¼ - ½ tsp chipotle chilli powder or smoked paprika

• generous pinch of salt

• pinch of sugar

Method

1. Preheat the oven - gas mark 6 / 200oC

2. Heat an ovenproof* frying pan and add a good glug of olive oil (for future ref a glug is approximately 1tbsp)

3. Add the chopped peppers and fry on high heat for about five minutes, allowing a bit of charring to the peppers.

4. Add the garlic and stir briskly for a few minutes. The garlic will get just a tiny bit brown but don’t let it burn.

5. Turn down the heat and add the spices and seasoning.

6. Stir for a minute then add the tomatoes.

7. Bring the heat back up to get the tomatoes going, stirring for about 30 seconds and then turn right down to let it hubble bubble very gently for 15-20 minutes.

8. Add the spinach and let it wilt into the mix.

9. Make four dents, or divots, in the mix with a spoon and break an egg into each one and put the pan into the oven and bake for 10 minutes or until the eggs are cooked but still soft.

Tips and swaps:

• If you don’t have an ovenproof* frying pan transfer the mix into a casserole dish before putting into the oven, or you can make this on top of the stove if you have a good heavy-bottomed pan with a lid. Otherwise, it’s best in the oven.

• When I made this dish for this page I served it with roast potatoes and squash because we ate it for dinner and I felt it needed bulking out.

• Also excellent with hot garlic bread, warmed flatbreads or rice.

• It’s perfect for breakfast, especially if you make the base the day before, with some warmed flatbread.

• It is delicious with feta crumbled on top, a dollop of plain yoghurt or labneh, a strained yoghurt which becomes a mild soft cheese.

• But the pièce de résistance and best addition to this dish is zhoug, or zhug, a condiment to beat all condiments and my new most favourite addition to just about anything savoury - why not have this and yoghurt too - go mad why don’t you!

• If you make this in the summer use the best, ripest tomatoes you can find, peeled - this will turn it from rich and wintery to light and summery. That's a promise.

Enjoy!

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Written by Liz Haughton

Bristol resident for twenty five years, Liz ran the Folk House Cafe in Bristol for 13 and half years, adding Spike Island Cafe in along the way, until August 2019. Liz is currently organising a series of Slow Creative Retreats (www.slowretreats.co.uk) and encouraging nursery school kids to play with their food. Liz is a cook, writer, painter and general dabbler in all things creative.

Recipes