This is my favourite meal in this book.
It helped my dad lose 40kg at the age of 74. Shakshuka means 'mixed' in Arabic and it's the most glorious way to poach eggs on the planet, with its tumble of peppers, olives, tomatoes, onion and warming spices. It's a weekend staple for me.
Serves 1 | Prep: 5 minutes | Cook: 25 minutes
Ingredients
- 1 tsp olive oil
- 1/2 small onion (50g), thinly sliced
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 1/2 red pepper (100g), thinly sliced
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 2 tomatoes (250g), roughly chopped
- 1 tsp harissa paste
- 3 eggs
- 50g reduced-fat feta, crumbled
- 20g Kalamata olives, pitted and halved
- salt and pepper, to taste
- handful of fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves, to garnish
- juice of 1/2 lemon, to serve (optional)
Method
Heat the olive oil in a small sauté pan that has a lid over a medium heat. Add the onion, garlic and red pepper and fry until they begin to turn soft. Add the paprika to the mix and continue to fry.
Once the onion starts to brown and the paprika is well combined, add the tomatoes and slowly bring the mixture to the boil. Add the harissa paste along with a good splash of boiling water, then cover with the lid, reduce the heat and leave to simmer for 10 minutes to infuse all the flavours.
After this time, remove the lid and make three small holes in the tomato mix, then crack the eggs into the holes. Scatter the feta and olives on top, then replace the lid and leave the eggs to poach for 4-6 minutes until they are done to your liking.
To serve, garnish with the parsley and season with salt and pepper to taste. I also like to add a squeeze of fresh lemon juice.
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