Shakshuka

How should a breakfast be? Healthy, Delicious, Filling, Quick and Easy. Shakshuka ticks all these boxes. Not only for breakfast, this colourful and nourishing Mediterranean / North African eggs dish can also be enjoyed hot with some crusty bread any other time of the day, even for brunch on lazy weekends!

Check out this quick video to see how easy it is to make Shakshuka.

Quick Video of Shakshuka:

Very Popular Indeed

Shakshuka is a very popular dish in many countries. While its not quite clear where this dish originated from, some believe it’s from Morocco, others say it’s from Spain, yet others think it’s from Turkey, Israel or Arab countries.

Wherever this dish originated from and whatever it's history is, one thing is clear, this dish is extremely popular and loved by so many that it has spread far and wide.

Now, over the years, each place has added their own style and variation to this dish, creating a new version of Shakshuka each time. Some scramble the eggs up while others add meat to this dish; some make it spicy while others make it mild. In this blog I will be discussing the poached egg version of this dish.

So Colourful

This dish is so colourful and appetising that by just looking at it you will feel hungry. Its intense red colour contrasted by white colour of eggs and some hints of yellow topped by green cilantro makes the whole pan look like a work of art!

To enhance its looks further. I like to top up with some ground black pepper and some red chilli flakes as well.

You get that intense red colour from red peppers (capsicum), red chilli powder, paprika powder and tomatoes. You can use any other coloured pepper (capsicum) as well if you don’t have red peppers (capsicum), but it won’t give you those looks.

Also, I like to use canned chopped tomatoes as they have a brighter colour and are tangier then normal tomatoes, plus its quicker and saves me a job of chopping lots of tomatoes; but if you don’t have or don’t like canned tomatoes you can use normal fresh tomatoes. Also, I like to use some tomato paste as it adds to the flavour without the moisture of fresh tomatoes which you otherwise have to evaporate to make the sauce thick.

Eggs in Pockets

Once all the vegs in sauce are well cooked and sauce has reached its desired consistency, you will need to make pockets in the sauce where eggs will sit and get cooked. Break one egg at a time and add to the pocket gently. Make sure pocket is of the correct size or else the egg will just overflow and won’t create the desired visual effect later.

Customise to your liking

The great thing about Shakshuka is you can customise this dish to your liking, you can make it as spicier or as mild as you want and it will still taste awesome.

Also, the eggs can be cooked to your liking, you can keep the egg yolk runny or you can wait and cook it till its fully done; whatever pleases you.

Ideally, there should be some thick sauce in Shakshuka so you can dip a piece of crusty bread in it and eat; but again if you fancy a dry Shakshuka, you can make it your way and enjoy.

Try making this Shakshuka, it can be a good, hearty and healthy breakfast or it can even replace a meal when you don’t have much time to cook. Check out other OvalShelf’s Non-Veg Recipes. If you are looking for more breakfast ideas have a look at quick and easy Eggs Kejriwal and Onion Poha recipes.

Recipe Card for Shakshuka:

♥ We LOVE hearing from you ♥

If you have tried this recipe, please do share your food photo with us. Mention @ovalshelf or use hashtag #ovalshelf on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter. Thank you.

Subscribe to our YouTube Channel

Click here to Subscribe to OvalShelf's YouTube Channel to get all our quick, precise and simple video recipes. YouTube subscription is FREE.