MY FAVOURITE HEALTHY & SAVORY BRUNCH: SHAKSHUKA 🇹🇳

I have first discovered this dish when I was in Dubai several years ago. I remember first ordering this dish for my breakfast. They were served in a small cast iron pan with the sunny side eggs beautifully cooked over the red pepper and tomato sauce.

It’s truly one of my favourites to make for brunch for my husband and I on a weekend. It’s a warm savoury and hearty breakfast yet light and healthy. I serve this with freshly steamed pita bread or fresh buns/brioche/sourdough bread so I can dip it in the tomato sauce.

Shakshuka originates from Tunisia or Yemen and is popular in the Middle Eastern and North African countries.

With a cup of coffee or even fresh juice, it’s a divine breakfast that will keep you full for several hours.

Here is the recipe!

MY FAVOURITE HEALTHY & SAVOURY BRUNCH: SHAKSHUKA RECIPE

Prep time: 5-10 minutes

Cook time: 35-40 minutes

Servings: 3

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INGREDIENTS

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced

• 1  medium sized onion, thinly sliced

• 2 cloves garlic minced/pressed

• 500g/17.5oz canned tomatoes (diced or whole)

• 1 tbsp tomato paste

• 1 tbsp harissa paste (optional, highly recommended)

• 1 tsp ground cumin

• 1 tsp smoked/sweet paprika powder (regular paprika subsititute)

• 1 tsp coriander powder

• salt and freshly ground black pepper

• 5-6 eggs

• 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped (cilantro substitute)

• Pita bread or white flour bread (brioche, buns, sourdough, challah etc.) for serving

• lemons slices for fresh squeeze

DIRECTIONS

1. Heat olive oil in a pan or cast iron skillet over medium heat. Add the onions and sauté for 1-2 minutes. Add red bell peppers and sprinkle in some salt and cook for about 10 minutes or until the peppers become soft and the onions are translucent. Stir in garlic and cook for an additional minute until the garlic becomes fragrant.

2. Add tomato paste and harissa paste and mix well for 1 minute.

3. Add cumin, smoked paprika and coriander powder and mix until fragrant.

4. Pour in the canned tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to low and simmer until the tomato sauce thickens like a stew. You want the tomato sauce to thicken like a stew. This should take 15 minutes.

5. Add parsley and mix well. Add salt & pepper to your taste.

6. Make 5-6 crater holes in the tomato stew using your spatula or a spoon.. Gently crack the eggs into these holes. Season lightly with salt and pepper over the eggs. Cook the eggs with the lid covered until the egg whites turned lightly opaque in colour. Then, cook the egg with the lid uncovered. This should take about 5 minutes.

7. Garnish with fresh cilantro or parsley and serve with pita bread or any white flour bread of your choice.

PRO TIPS

• Caramelise the onions and red peppers when first sautéing them as it will provide depth and sweetness to your shakshuka.

• Try to simmer as long as until the tomato sauce thickens to a stew like consistency. This will make your shakshuka sweeter and you won’t need to add sugar.