Shakshuka

I need to get more creative with brunch. I specifically didn’t say breakfast, because the only time I have enough time to cook a proper morning meal is the weekend, and on those occasions I don’t crawl out of bed at a time where the first meal could reasonably be called breakfast.

I have a newfound respect for eggs. Eggs are great. I used to scoff at those adverts a few years ago where someone would look in a nearly bare fridge, but suddenly have enough ingredients to cobble together a Spanish omelette. I used to think eggs were only really useful for baking and in a fry (and of course in the family party staple – egg and onion sarnies!), but I’ve since grown very fond of the egg.

I love them nestled in a baked avocado, and scrambled eggs on salty buttered toast is probably my favourite comfort food in the world. I saw an interesting photo the other day, that looked like a big tomatoey egg in a pan, and I was intrigued. It turns out I was quite late to the game with shakshuka, it’s been having a big moment for a while now and I want to leap on board!

It’s basically a delicately spiced, Middle-Eastern tomato based baked egg dish, traditionally eaten for breakfast. And I am in LOVE! I often find that tomatoes can be too sour and overpower a dish, but here everything complements each other and you get a deeply rich flavour which goes perfectly with eggs. Mine has a bit more egg to salsa mix than traditional, but I do love eggs. You could either double the recipe but keep the egg number the same, or just use one egg (and make it a meal for one) if you want more of the tomatoey part.

Serves 2 for brunch, or one very hungry person

Ingredients

• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• ½ a pepper, diced small
• 3 spring onions, sliced thinly
• 1 garlic clove, diced small
• 3 cherry tomatoes, quartered
• ½ tsp paprika
• ½ tsp cumin
• A pinch of cayenne
• 60ml pasatta
• Salt and pepper
• 2 eggs

Method

This is a really simple recipe. Pre-heat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius.

 Heat the oil, throw in the pepper and scallions and allow to cook for 5 minutes. Add in the tomatoes and garlic and cook for another 5 minutes.

Stir through the spices and pasatta and season well. Allow to simmer for another 5 minutes until thickened slightly.

Make 2 wells in the mixture and crack the eggs in.

Bake in the oven for 7 minutes.

Remove and eat immediately, good on its own, but I added rocket and a slice of sourdough for some early afternoon decadence. I also threw in some peppered salami after I’d taken the photos, and it was goooood.