Shakshuka: Impress Your Friends and Family With a Deceivingly Simple Recipe

The North African dish is full of complex flavors, and preparing it is a breeze.

I was suitably impressed with Baba’s shakshuka, enough so that I tried preparing the dish myself. Well, “myself”—in all fairness, this recipe is a modified version of one published in Cook’s Illustrated. Myself-ish if you like.

It’s not a difficult recipe, and the hour-long process is mostly spent intermittently stirring the simmering sauce. The final product is a vivid-looking mixture—which is what “shakshuka” means in Arabic—with bold, spicy flavors.

You want those eggs to be runny. And as always, a Dutch-oven-style pan is recommended.

• 3 tbsp vegetable oil

• 2 onions, finely chopped

• 2 yellow peppers, stemmed and seeded, cut into small cubes

• 6 garlic cloves, minced

• 2 tbsp tomato paste

• 2 tsp ground cumin

• 2 tsp turmeric

• 1 tsp cayenne pepper

• 2 cups jarred piquillo peppers, coarsely chopped

• 1 (14.5 oz) can diced tomatoes

• ¼ cup water

• ½ cup water

• 2 Turkish bay leaves

• ½ cup chopped cilantro

• 8 eggs

• ½ cup crumbled feta

1. Heat oil in a 12” skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and bell peppers and cook until they start to brown. About 10 minutes.

2. Add garlic, tomato paste, cumin, turmeric, a pinch of salt and pepper, and cayenne. Stir frequently until the paste darkens—about 3 minutes.

3. Stir in piquillo peppers, tomatoes and their juice, water, and bay leaves. Bring to a simmer.

4. Reduce heat to medium-low and cook until sauce thickens—about 15 minutes.

5. Off heat, discard bay leaves, and stir in half the cilantro.

6. Transfer 2 cups sauce to a blender, process until smooth, and return to skillet. Stir, and bring sauce to simmer over medium-low.

7. Off heat, make 4 indentations (2-inch wide) in sauce, and crack 2 eggs into each hole. Season eggs with salt and pepper.

8. Cover and cook over medium-low until egg whites just set—about 7 minutes.

9. Sprinkle with feta and remaining cilantro, and serve.

The leftovers make for a good pasta sauce, particularly over some al dente cavatappi.

Web Source

Shakshouka. (2023, January 27). In Wikipedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shakshouka

I was not able to find Cook’s Illustrated’s recipe online, but if you search for “shakshuka” in their app, it’ll pop up.