Shakshuka

Shakshuka has become one of the staples in our house. It is a delicious dish, easy to adapt to what you have in the fridge and also pretty fast. It can be served as a breakfast, brunch, or at whatever meal you like, with a slice of sourdough bread, some feta or burrata, the combinations are endless.

So, even though the internet is full of shakshuka, I want to show you my version, and also, tell you how you can switch it up to make it different, or better, each time you serve it. Let’s get into the recipe and I’ll come back with some tips later on.

Ingredients:

• 1/2 Red Kapia Pepper
• 1 red onion
• 30g bacon
• 300ml tomato passata
• 3 cloves of garlic
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/2 tsp pepperoncini (or any other chili flakes)
• 1 tbsp oil for cooking (can be olive oil or another if you prefer)
• salt and pepper to taste
• optional:
  • oregano
  • parsley for garnish
  • feta, burrata, or any other cheese that you like

Method:

• Let’s do the prep first: dice the pepper, the onion and the bacon. Mince the garlic to have it ready to go.
• In a pan (I used cast iron) add the oil and the bacon. Cook until the bacon renders most of the fat and then add the onions. Cook the onions for a few minutes, until they are soft. Add the minced garlic and stir. Cook for 2-3 mins and then add the pepper. Keep stirring occasionally until the pepper is soft.
• Now it’s time to add the passata. After this is when I add my spices: the nutmeg, pepper, chili flakes, paprika, but not the salt. As I have mentioned before, if you are making dishes with sauces that will reduce in volume, add the salt closer to the end, otherwise, if you are too generous with the salt, you may end up with a result that is too salty.
• Let it simmer for about 20 mins, or until you have your desired thickness to the sauce.
• After you have the desired consistency, taste and adjust the salt if needed.
• Make some nests in the sauce for the eggs and crack them one by one in those nests. In my case I used three eggs and this has resulted in 2-3 portions.
• Add a lid to the pan, lower the heat and wait for a few minutes until the eggs are cooked.
• Garnish with some parsley, or cilantro, some cheese and serve with some delicious bread.

Tips:

• This is a great occasion to use some leftover tomatoes or passata that you have laying around; we can prevent some food waste this way
• You can replace the bacon with chorizo, when I have it, I always add it
• You can easily keep this vegetarian by removing the bacon or chorizo from this recipe
• Do you have any idea how delicious is this with garlic bread? It’s a must try!
• You can add an Italian vibe to this by switching up the spices with some fresh basil and a drizzle of olive oil at the end, match it to what you like.

As per usual, I hope you enjoy this recipe and we can see each other on Instagram too (@betterthansalads_)