Shakshuka

Kumquat the Cat's friend's Note:

An Israeli dish served at Ori Apple, a hummus restaurant on St. Marks Place in Lower Manhattan. An "eat anytime" dish. From an article in the Wednesday food section of the New York Times.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 30 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion , roughly chopped
• 2 garlic cloves , minced
• 1 teaspoon jalapeno , minced and seeded (or more to taste)
• 2 red peppers or 2 green peppers , roughly chopped
• 8 fresh plum tomatoes , roughly chopped
• 2 (28 ounce) cans Italian plum tomatoes , strained (peeled)
• ½ teaspoon hot paprika or ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 2 teaspoons sweet paprika
• 1 teaspoon turmeric
• 1 teaspoon salt , more to taste
• 1 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper , more to taste
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup canned tomato juice
• ½ cup vegetable broth
• 4 large eggs
• za'atar spice mix , for serving
• 4 pita breads , warmed

Directions:

1. Place large saute pan over medium heat, add and heat oil. Add onion and saute until lightly browned.
2. Add garlic, jalapeno and bell peppers, and saute 2 minutes more.
3. Add fresh and canned tomatoes, reduce heat to low and simmer for 5 minutes.
4. Add hot and sweet paprika, turmeric, salt, pepper and sugar. Stir for 1 minute.
5. Add tomato juice and vegetable broth and bring to a full boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, until mixture is very thick and has little liquid left, about 1 hour; stir occasionally to make sure vegetables do not stick to bottom of pan, and add more tomato juice or vegetable broth as needed. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
6. Gently crack eggs into pan, taking care not to break yolks. Simmer until whites solidify but yolks remain runny, about 8 minutes, or as per personal preference (I would put this under the broiler for a couple more minutes because I hate undercooked eggs).
7. Ladle equal portions of vegetables and eggs into 4 serving bowls. Sprinkle with zaatar to taste, and serve with warm pita bread.

Reviews

[ms.susan]

Dinner tonight! YUMMM!! Thanks Kumquat!

[CafeCook]

This is the perfect shakshuka recipe. I added some crushed chili flakes (i love spicy food) and cumin to mine. Sensational, so warming on a cold day. Thanks for the recipe! P.s the tip for covering the pan with lid when adding the eggs definitely speeds up the process.

[Mew25]

This was really good and easy! My sister said it was better than the one her Israeli roommate makes =) I left out the jalapeno (didnt have one), but it was still nice and spicy...and i just used the reserved tomato juice from the canned tomatoes instead of opening a can of tomato juice. I let the sauce simmer away for almost 2 hours while i made everything else, and the flavors were just perfect (i didnt even change any of the seasonings or adjust them at all, which i ALWAYS do when following a recipe) Thank you so much! I've been craving this ever since my stay in tel aviv =)