Eggs in Spicy Tomato and Roasted Red Pepper Sauce for Two (Shakshuka)
By Annie PetitoPublished on January 11, 2019
Time
1 hour
Yield
Serves 2
Ingredients
Before You Begin
Served with pita bread to scoop up the eggs and sauce, and a green salad, Shakshuka makes a satisfying brunch, lunch, or dinner. The shallow indentations made in the sauce in step 3 are intended to cradle the yolks and to ensure even placement of the eggs. Don't be concerned if the whites run together. If you have a glass lid for your skillet, this is a great place to use it. If not, feel free to peek at the eggs frequently as they cook. Top with Spicy Cilantro Sauce (Zhoug), if desired.
Instructions
- Cut enough pita bread into ½-inch pieces to make ¼ cup (about one-eighth of 1 pita bread). Cut remaining pita breads into wedges for serving. Process pita pieces, tomatoes, and half of red peppers in blender until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Cut remaining red peppers into ¼-inch pieces and set aside.
- Heat oil in 10-inch skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 1 minute. Add tomato paste, coriander, paprika, cumin, salt, pepper, and cayenne and cook, stirring constantly, until rust-colored and fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in tomato–red pepper puree and reserved red peppers (mixture may sputter) and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to maintain simmer; cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened (spatula will leave trail that slowly fills in behind it, but sauce will still slosh when skillet is shaken), 6 to 8 minutes.
- Remove skillet from heat. Using back of spoon, make 4 shallow dime-size indentations in sauce. Crack 1 egg into small bowl and pour into 1 indentation (it will hold yolk in place but not fully contain egg). Repeat with remaining 3 eggs. Spoon sauce over edges of egg whites so that whites are partially covered and yolks are exposed.
- Bring to simmer over medium heat (there should be small bubbles across entire surface). Reduce heat to maintain simmer. Cover and cook until yolks film over, 3 to 4 minutes. Continue to cook, covered, until whites are softly but uniformly set (if skillet is shaken lightly, each egg should jiggle as a single unit), 1 to 2 minutes longer. Off heat, sprinkle with cilantro, feta, and olives. Serve immediately, passing pita wedges separately.
Time
1 hourYield
Serves 2Ingredients
Ingredients
Ingredients
Why This Recipe Works
The North African dish shakshuka (eggs poached in tomato sauce flavored with peppers, spices, and garlic) is also enjoyed throughout the Middle East and Europe. It makes a great meal any time—if you can get the eggs to cook properly. For the sauce, we blended whole peeled tomatoes and jarred roasted red peppers for a mix of sweetness, smokiness, and acidity. Adding pita bread helped prevent the silky-smooth sauce from weeping. A combination of garlic, tomato paste, and ground spices created the distinct flavor profile we were after. To ensure that the eggs cooked just right, we added them to the skillet off the heat, cooked them in a smooth rather than chunky sauce for more even heat transfer, and covered the whites with sauce just after adding them to the pan to help speed their cooking. Covering the eggs created a steamy environment that quickly cooked them from both above and below. Chopped fresh cilantro, crumbled feta, and sliced kalamata olives on top provided brightness, texture, and contrasting flavor.
Before You Begin
Served with pita bread to scoop up the eggs and sauce, and a green salad, Shakshuka makes a satisfying brunch, lunch, or dinner. The shallow indentations made in the sauce in step 3 are intended to cradle the yolks and to ensure even placement of the eggs. Don't be concerned if the whites run together. If you have a glass lid for your skillet, this is a great place to use it. If not, feel free to peek at the eggs frequently as they cook. Top with Spicy Cilantro Sauce (Zhoug), if desired.
Instructions
- Cut enough pita bread into ½-inch pieces to make ¼ cup (about one-eighth of 1 pita bread). Cut remaining pita breads into wedges for serving. Process pita pieces, tomatoes, and half of red peppers in blender until smooth, 1 to 2 minutes. Cut remaining red peppers into ¼-inch pieces and set aside.
- Heat oil in 10-inch skillet over medium heat until shimmering. Add garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until golden, about 1 minute. Add tomato paste, coriander, paprika, cumin, salt, pepper, and cayenne and cook, stirring constantly, until rust-colored and fragrant, about 1 minute. Stir in tomato–red pepper puree and reserved red peppers (mixture may sputter) and bring to simmer. Reduce heat to maintain simmer; cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly thickened (spatula will leave trail that slowly fills in behind it, but sauce will still slosh when skillet is shaken), 6 to 8 minutes.
- Remove skillet from heat. Using back of spoon, make 4 shallow dime-size indentations in sauce. Crack 1 egg into small bowl and pour into 1 indentation (it will hold yolk in place but not fully contain egg). Repeat with remaining 3 eggs. Spoon sauce over edges of egg whites so that whites are partially covered and yolks are exposed.
- Bring to simmer over medium heat (there should be small bubbles across entire surface). Reduce heat to maintain simmer. Cover and cook until yolks film over, 3 to 4 minutes. Continue to cook, covered, until whites are softly but uniformly set (if skillet is shaken lightly, each egg should jiggle as a single unit), 1 to 2 minutes longer. Off heat, sprinkle with cilantro, feta, and olives. Serve immediately, passing pita wedges separately.
Gift This Recipe
Enjoyed this dish? Let others know by sharing it as a gift recipe.
Appears In
Keep Exploring
0 Comments