I stumbled across a recipe for this thing called shakshuka a couple of weeks ago. It’s a Middle Eastern breakfast dish. Suddenly I start hearing about this all over Food TV. Weird! So here is my take on this dish. It’s easy, low carb and very tasty! [Nowadays, this recipe would feed FOUR. I cannot eat half of that! It is two BIG servings, take note! This is not a dish that would reheat well unless you leave off the eggs or package leftovers with a poached egg. Tricky.]
Shakshuka for Two
INGREDIENTS
1 tsp olive oil
1/2 white onion, diced
2 clove garlic, minced
1/2 medium green pepper, diced
4-5 mushrooms, diced
1/2 jalapeño, minced w/out seeds or ribs
1/2 cup frozen spinach, or 1 cup fresh chopped
1 14 oz can crushed tomatoes, drained if watery (OR 1 small box Italian crushed as pictured)
1 tbsp tomato paste (NOT necessary if you use thick Italian tomatoes)
1-2 tsp sugar (depending on how acidic your tomatoes are. TASTE.)
1/2 tsp ancho powder (you can sub cayenne, but cut back to 1/4 tsp)
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
1/4 cup crumbled feta
Salt and pepper to taste
4 eggs
1 tbsp fresh chopped parsley or cilantro garnish
1. Heat oven to 375 degrees.
2. Heat oil in a small nonstick, oven safe skillet over medium-low heat. Add onion, garlic, bell pepper, jalapeño, spinach and shrooms. Cook gently until very soft, about 10 minutes. Add ancho, cumin, paprika and red pepper flakes, and cook 1 minute. Pour in tomatoes (and tomato paste if using) and season with salt and pepper to taste; simmer until tomatoes have thickened, about 5 minutes (UNLESS you’re using the thick Italian tomatoes, then you might need to add a couple Tbl water). Be gentle with salt, feta cheese is salty! Turn off heat and gently stir in crumbled feta. The tomatoes and veg should be pretty thick, adjust liquid accordingly.
3. Gently crack eggs into a small bowl and use the bowl to make a well in the tomatoes as you pour the egg in. Season eggs lightly with salt and pepper. Transfer skillet to oven and bake until eggs are just set, 7 to 10 minutes. The eggs will look raw on top; don’t overcook them (as I did in this test!). Sprinkle with cilantro or parsley. (Which I didn’t do in the photo!)