Try This Food: Shakshouka
First of all, let’s just agree that “shakshouka” is really fun to say. Give it a try if you don’t believe me.
Next, let’s admit that I am no expert on Mediterranean cuisine. As far as my brief web search has revealed, “shakshouka” translates to “mixture” and some version of this dish has been kicking around basically forever. Me? I just discovered it last year. But what a discovery! Since that fateful rainy morning when I ventured to a neighborhood brunch spot for a solo breakfast, I have been looking forward to having a go at this simple dish. The dish I ended up with is vaguely Tunisian by heritage and has that sort of, one-pot slow-roasted quality I associate with North African food.
The short version of the recipe is: eggs poached in a spiced vegetable stew.
The long version is a bit more fun.
As a doc, I also like this dish because it follows my #1 guideline for people trying to improve their diet: make your meals mostly vegetables. We get into the habit of building our meals around grains (like pasta) or around meat (like steak) and forget to make the vegetables the main event. Give this dish a try and I think you will want to put it in your regular rotation!
Isn’t cast iron fun? I think it is nice aesthetically but realistically you could use any oven-safe pan—make sure it has no plastic handles!
Spices lose their punch quickly after they’ve been ground. Buy them whole and grind them yourself! I use a heavy mortar & pestle. It takes 30 seconds, I promise!
Make it yourself:
Preheat your oven. Mine was around 375F.
Thinly slice a small yellow onion and a large red bell pepper.
Select your spices and grind them if necessary.
I used a 1/2 tsp cumin, 1/2 tsp fennel, two pods-worth of cardamom (1/8 tsp maybe?), 1/4 tsp ground ginger, and a dash of ground cayenne.Preheat your pan over medium-high heat (I used a 9-in cast iron pan, but anything that can go to the oven will do).
Melt 1 tbsp butter (or avocado oil) in the pan and add the ground spices.
Add the sliced onion and saute briefly until the spices are fragrant and the onion is softening. Then add the sliced bell pepper.
Reduce the heat to medium-low and cover. Cook 20 minutes or so, stirring and checking on it every so often, until the vegetables are very soft and starting to fall apart.
Add a 14oz can diced tomatoes with the juice and stir to combine. Uncover and simmer until the liquid reduces. The vegetables will have the consistency of sauce, rather than soup. Remove from heat.
Crack four eggs into a separate bowl—check for shell fragments and don’t break the yolks. Pour the eggs gently on top of the vegetables.
Transfer the pan to the oven. Bake until the eggs are set to your preference.
I added some crushed dried oregano and salt after removing the final product from the oven. I meant to eat it with some tasty crusty bread but (oops!) I scarfed it too fast to worry about bread. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
