The Best Shakshuka Food

EASY SHAKSHUKA

Steps:

• Sauté veggies: Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion, bell pepper and garlic to the skillet and cook until onions are soft and fragrant - about 5 to 10 minutes.
• Add spices and tomatoes: Add cumin, paprika, cayenne, curry, turmeric, salt and pepper. Give the mixture a stir and cook for about 1 minute more. Add diced tomatoes to the skillet and bring sauce to a boil. Reduce heat to a simmer and cook until the sauce thickens up a bit, about 10 minutes. Add feta cheese to the tomato mixture and stir.
• Add eggs: Crack eggs into tomato sauce. You should be able to fit 4-5 eggs in a large skillet. Cover and let the eggs cook for about 5 minutes, or until the egg whites are completely cooked through. Remove skillet from heat, uncover and let sit for a 1-2 minutes before serving.
• Serve: Spoon 1-2 eggs along with a big serving of tomato sauce on to each plate. Garnish with extra feta cheese and fresh cilantro and parsley. Serve with toast, veggies or over a whole grain like quinoa or brown rice for a complete meal.

THE BEST SHAKSHUKA RECIPE

Steps:

• In a large 12-oz sauté pan, heat oil over medium heat. Add onions and pepper and a pinch of salt and saute for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until veggies and soft and slightly browned.
• Add garlic and cook for one more minute until fragrant (add a little more olive oil if needed.)
• Then add the tomato paste, harissa, cumin, paprika and chili pepper flakes and sauté for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until tomato paste brows.
• Add diced tomatoes and combine, and simmer for 5-8 minutes until sauce thickens.
• Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Put one egg in a small ramekin and dig a small well with a spoon in the shakshuka for the egg to go in. Repeat with the other eggs. Simmer over medium for 10 minutes or until the whites are cooked but the yolks are still runny. Serve immediately with cilantro, avocado and a drizzle of olive oil!

SHAKSHUKA RECIPE (EASY & TRADITIONAL)

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan on medium heat. Add the chopped bell pepper and onion and cook for 5 minutes or until the onion becomes translucent.
• Add garlic and spices and cook an additional minute.
• Pour the can of tomatoes and juice into the pan and break down the tomatoes using a large spoon. Season with salt and pepper and bring the sauce to a simmer.
• Use your large spoon to make small wells in the sauce and crack the eggs into each well. Cover the pan and cook for 5-8 minutes, or until the eggs are done to your liking.
• Garnish with chopped cilantro and parsley.

EASY SHAKSHUKA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Warm the oil in a large, oven-safe skillet (preferably stainless steel) over medium heat. Once shimmering, add the onion, bell pepper, and salt. Cook, stirring often, until the onions are tender and turning translucent, about 4 to 6 minutes.
• Add the garlic, tomato paste, cumin, paprika and red pepper flakes. Cook, stirring constantly, until nice and fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes.
• Pour in the crushed tomatoes with their juices and add the cilantro. Stir, and let the mixture come to a simmer. Reduce the heat as necessary to maintain a gentle simmer, and cook for 5 minutes to give the flavors time to meld.
• Turn off the heat. Taste (careful, it's hot), and add salt and pepper as necessary. Use the back of a spoon to make a well near the perimeter and crack the egg directly into it. Gently spoon a bit of the tomato mixture over the whites to help contain the egg. Repeat with the remaining 4 to 5 eggs, depending on how many you can fit. Sprinkle a little salt and pepper over the eggs.
• Carefully transfer the skillet to the oven (it's heavy) and bake for 8 to 12 minutes, checking often once you reach 8 minutes. They're done when the egg whites are an opaque white and the yolks have risen a bit but are still soft. They should still jiggle in the centers when you shimmy the pan. (Keep in mind that they'll continue cooking after you pull the dish out of the oven.)
• Using oven mitts (both hands!), transfer the hot skillet to a heat-safe surface like the stove. Top with the crumbled feta, fresh cilantro leaves, and more red pepper flakes, if desired. Serve in bowls with crusty bread on the side.

SHAKSHUKA

Steps:

• Heat the olive oil in a medium ovenproof skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion and bell pepper and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 10 minutes. Add the cilantro stems, garlic, cumin, paprika and red pepper flakes; season with 1/4 teaspoon salt and a few grinds of pepper. Cook, stirring, until the garlic is softened and the vegetables are coated with the spices, about 1 minute.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Stir the tomatoes with their juices into the skillet. Reduce the heat to maintain a low simmer and cook, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes break down and the sauce thickens slightly, about 20 minutes; season with salt and pepper.
• Use the back of a spoon to make 4 wells in the sauce, 1 to 2 inches apart. Crack an egg into each well. Run the edge of a rubber spatula through the egg whites to break them slightly, being careful not to break the yolks (this allows the egg whites to cook faster). Transfer the skillet to the oven and bake until the egg whites are just set, 15 to 18 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and top with the cilantro leaves. Serve with pita bread.

EASY SHAKSHUKA RECIPE

Steps:

• Heat 3 tbsp olive oil in a large cast iron skillet. Add the onions, green peppers, garlic, spices, pinch salt and pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables have softened, about 5 minutes.
• Add the tomatoes and tomato sauce. Cover and let simmer for about 15 minutes. Uncover and cook a bit longer to allow the mixture to reduce and thicken. Taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking.
• Using a wooden spoon, make 6 indentations, or "wells," in the tomato mixture (make sure the indentations are spaced out). Gently crack an egg into each indention.
• Reduce the heat, cover the skillet, and cook on low until the egg whites are set.
• Uncover and add the fresh parsley and mint. You can add more black pepper or crushed red pepper, if you like. Serve with warm pita, challah, or crusty bread of your choice.

SHAKSHUKA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
• Add the olive oil to a large skillet over medium-low heat, followed by the onions, peppers and garlic. Cook, stirring gently from time to time, until soft, about 20 minutes. Stir in the cumin, smoked paprika, piment d'Espelette, salt and pepper. Stir in the tomatoes and chopped parsley, reserving a handful for garnish, and let the mixture simmer about 5 minutes.
• Using the back of a spoon, create a crater in the tomato mixture and gently crack an egg into the crater; repeat with the remaining 5 to 7 eggs. Continue cooking on the stovetop until the whites are set but the yolks are still runny, 4 to 6 minutes. Alternately, transfer the skillet to the oven for 5 minutes until the whites are set and the yolks are still runny. Garnish with reserved parsley.

SHAKSHUKA

Steps:

• Position an oven rack 5-inches from the top of oven and set the broiler to high.
• Cut the peppers in half lengthwise, discard the seeds, and place cut-side down on a sheet pan. Broil until the skins are completely charred, about 10 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. (Or char the peppers over gas burners, turning often.)
• Transfer the peppers to a large bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and allow then to steam for 15 minutes, then rub the skins off under running water. Drain and roughly chop into half-inch squares.
• Place a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add the oil and heat until shimmering, or until it reaches 335 to 350 degrees F. Stir in the garlic and salt and cook until the garlic begins to brown, about 1 minute.
• Add the harissa, brown sugar and preserved lemons and cook, stirring vigorously, for 30 seconds. Follow with the peppers, then grate the tomatoes directly into the pan using the large holes of a box grater, discarding the remaining pieces of skin. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, bring a small pot of water to a boil and prepare an ice bath in a large bowl. Carefully lower the eggs (in their shells) into the boiling water and cook for 1 minute then dunk in the ice bath for 30 seconds. Remove to a dish towel.
• Create 6 divots in the stew with the back of a large spoon or ladle, making them deep enough to hold the eggs without pushing through to the bottom of the pan. Crack the par-cooked eggs into the divots. (I usually break them one by one into a custard cup to protect the yolk.) Cook over medium-low heat until the whites are just set but the yolks are still runny, about 12 minutes.
• Garnish with chopped parsley and serve immediately.
• Toast the cumin, coriander and caraway in a dry cast-iron skillet over medium heat until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Stir in the olive oil, garlic, onion and salt. Cook until the garlic begins to brown, about 2 minutes.
• Stir in the urfa biber and tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. Add the red wine vinegar and cook 2 minutes more.
• Transfer the mixture to a food processor fitted with a standard S-blade and process until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed. Store in a tightly sealed glass container in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.
• Trim the ends off the lemons. Slice each lemon into 8 wedges, removing any seeds as you go. Reserve as much of the juice as possible.
• Layer the lemon wedges in a wide-mouthed 16-ounce canning jar, covering each layer with salt. Pack the jar as tightly as possible, pressing down to release the lemons' juice as you go and leaving about 1/4 inch of headspace in the jar.
• Cover the wedges with the reserved lemon juice from the cutting board and the ends. If your lemons do not release a significant amount of juice, top off the jar with the juice of another lemon.
• Stash in the refrigerator for 4 days, then flip the jar over and age another 4 days before sampling. The peel should be nice and soft. Rinse before using.
• Expect peak flavor and texture after about a month. As long as they're kept refrigerated, preserved lemons should keep indefinitely.

LAMB OR BEEF SHAKSHUKA

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 F.
• Gather your ingredients.
• Heat a large cast-iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add EVOO to the pan, 2 turns of the pan. Add ground meat, crumble and cook until the pink color goes away and meat is lightly browned.
• Peel and chop onion, seed and finely chop the peppers and chop or slice the garlic. Add onions and peppers to the meat and stir to soften a few minutes. Add seeds, spices and garlic; stir.
• Puree in food processor a can of chipotle in adobo. Add 2 tablespoons to pan and the rest to a bag to freeze and store for another use.
• Add tomatoes, honey if using, feta and stir. Make 4 to 6 nests in meat sauce using the back of a wooden spoon and drop eggs into them. Transfer pan to oven for 8 to 10 minutes till eggs set.
• For naan, heat a griddle over high heat. Scatter a little water onto skillet and griddle the bread to blister, then flip. Brush bread with melted butter and cut into pieces/wide strips.
• Garnish eggs with dollops of yogurt if using, cilantro leaves and scallions.