Breakfast for Dinner in the Test Kitchen with Leslie V3

This week, I feed my tater tot obsession with a bourgie breakfast casserole courtesy of Pinterest, and Leslie faces her poached egg fears with a Mediterranean favorite, shakshuka.



Shakshuka is a delicious one-skillet Mediterranean dish that is good for any meal of the day. It has a saucy, peppery, flavorful tomato base, and you actually poach your eggs IN the tomato sauce. Shakshuka is a dish I had seen pictures of but had never been brave enough to try. Turns out, it was extremely easy! 10/10 will make all the time.

Since I had never made or even tasted shakshuka before, I read a bunch of recipes and sort of smushed a couple together. I tried to be as traditional as possible, too (NYT mixed feta in with their shakshuka and according to the comments that is a big no-no).

So, chanting “shakshuka, shakshuka” to the tune of Shakira Shakira’s “Hips Don’t Lie,” here we go.

Ingredients:
  • Good quality extra virgin olive oil
  • 1 large yellow onion, diced
  • 1 large red or green pepper, diced
  • 3 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1 tsp coriander
  • 1 tsp cumin
  • ½ teaspoon paprika
  • A shake of cayenne pepper (optional)
  • Salt and pepper
  • Two small cans of diced tomatoes, or one 28 oz. can of whole tomatoes, or 6 ripe fresh tomatoes, diced
  • ½ cup of tomato sauce
  • 3-6 eggs depending on the size of your skillet and your spatial awareness
  • Parsley, mint, or cilantro for garnish
  • Sliced bread for soaking up the good stuff
How-to:
  1. Heat olive oil in a large skillet on medium heat. Add your onions, pepper, garlic, spices, S&P, and cook until the pepper and onion have softened, stirring occasionally.
  2. A note about the spices: I followed an internet recipe’s recommendation for spices since I was clueless, but next time I will probably try 1.5 the amount of spices listed here, because I felt like those flavors could be stronger. Obviously, season to your own taste.
  3. Add the tomatoes and tomato sauce. Mix well. Cover and let simmer for 15 minutes. Uncover and cook until a bit more until the mixture reduces and thickens a little bit. That last step is one I forgot and you hear me in the video complain about how the mixture is too wet.
  4. Now comes the fun part. Using a spoon or spatula, create a little “well” in the sauce. Try to plan ahead here. I didn’t and ended up only fitting three eggs in my skillet (also because I panicked). Gently crack an egg into each well. If that scares you, crack the egg into a separate shallow dish and then carefully transfer it into a well. Sprinkle a little more salt and pepper on top of each egg.
  5. When all your eggs are tucked into their tomato bed, reduce the heat, cover, and let the eggs poach until the whites are set. If you don’t love runny eggs, let them go a little longer.
  6. When the whites are set, the eggs are done. Uncover, garnish with minced herbs (I used a combo of parsley and mint, another recipe suggested parsley and cilantro). Serve immediately with some toasty sliced bread. Cry with happiness.

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