Shakshuka
A thick pepper and tomato base with eggs poached in wells. The sauce has to be reduced before the eggs go in, or you end up with soup.
- Prep
- 10m
- Cook
- 30m
- Total
- 40m
- Serves
- 3
- Effort
- Easy
Method
| 3 tbsp | 1 Soften slowly until sweet and collapsing 12m | 2 Add and cook until the raw edge is gone 3m | 3 Simmer until thick enough to hold a spoon-track 15m If a channel closes up behind the spoon, keep going. | 4 Make wells and crack an egg into each 2m | 5 Cover and cook gently until the whites set 8m Whites opaque, yolks still loose — about 8 minutes. The lid cooks the tops. | |
| 2 | ||||||
| 1 | ||||||
| 3 cloves | ||||||
| 2 tsp | ||||||
| 1 tsp | ||||||
| 1/2 tsp | ||||||
| 1 tin | ||||||
| 1 tsp | ||||||
| 6 | ||||||
| 60 g | ||||||
| a handful | ||||||
- 1
Soften slowly until sweet and collapsing
12m- olive oil 3 tbsp
- red peppers 2
- onion 1
- 2
Add and cook until the raw edge is gone
3m- from 1 Soften slowly until sweet and collapsing
- garlic 3 cloves
- sweet paprika 2 tsp
- ground cumin 1 tsp
- chilli flakes (optional) 1/2 tsp
- 3
Simmer until thick enough to hold a spoon-track
15m- from 2 Add and cook until the raw edge is gone
- tinned tomatoes 1 tin
- salt 1 tsp
If a channel closes up behind the spoon, keep going.
- 4
Make wells and crack an egg into each
2m- from 3 Simmer until thick enough to hold a spoon-track
- eggs 6
- 5
Cover and cook gently until the whites set
8m- from 4 Make wells and crack an egg into each
- feta (optional) 60 g
- parsley a handful
Whites opaque, yolks still loose — about 8 minutes. The lid cooks the tops.
Reduce first, always
The most common way this goes wrong is adding the eggs to a sauce that is still loose. The eggs then sink, the whites spread through the tomato instead of setting on top, and there is no way to reduce the sauce afterwards without overcooking them. Get the base thick enough that a spoon dragged across the pan leaves a channel that stays open for a second, and only then make the wells.
The lid does the top
An uncovered pan sets the bottom of the whites long before the top. A lid traps steam, which cooks the exposed surface from above, so whites and yolks finish closer together. If you like a fully-set top, leave the lid on an extra two minutes; if you want the yolk visibly glossy, take the pan off at seven and let residual heat finish it.
Notes
- Peppers want twelve real minutes. Undercooked pepper is the difference between a sauce and a stir-fry with eggs in it.
- Crack each egg into a cup first. Fishing shell out of a hot pan of tomato is a poor use of a morning.
- Bread is not a garnish here. It is the utensil.