Tunisian Chakchouka

Submitted by Mme M

"This is such an easy recipe, nevertheless it is complex with rich flavor. I ate this dish often in Tunisia, where, incidentally, I first began to eat tomatoes when I was nearly 30 years old!!! The sunny mediterranean produces tomatoes that are intense with deep aroma and flavor. Chakchouka is a summer dish in Tunisia."

 

• Ready In: 35mins
• Ingredients: 13
• Serves: 4

ingredients

• For four people

• 4 big ripe tomatoes
• 4 eggs
• 2 sweet peppers
• 2 medium onions, chopped
• 1 -2 hot green pepper
• 1 head garlic, all cloves crushed and cut
• 1 tablespoon tomato concentrate
• 1 tablespoon harissa
• 1 tablespoon cumin
• bay leaf
• thyme, to taste
• 1 teaspoon salt (to taste)
• 1 -4 tablespoon olive oil

directions

1. Cut the tomatoes into large pieces. Deseed and dice all the peppers.
2. Heat olive oil in a medium size pot. The flavor belongs in the recipe, so use a good amount of it. Add the onion and garlic, and before it is brown, add the cumin. When the cumin is blended, add the tomatoes and peppers, the tomato concentrate, and the harissa. Add salt. Blend the ingredients with a long spoon. Add 1 - 3 bay leaves, and the thyme.
3. As soon as the vegetables are cooked, and the consistency is a bit thickened, add the eggs. The eggs will be poached in the pot. Space the eggs to give them room. Put the lid of the pot on. Wait for the white to set, as much as 15 minutes, depending on how high your heat is. The yolk should be runny.
4. When you serve this, dish up an amount of the vegetable part into a wide soup dish, then carefully center an egg into this. Repeat for four people. Have french bread cut and ready to dip into the chakchouka.
5. Note: the amounts of tomato concentrate and harissa, which is quite hot, can be adjusted to personal taste. You could lessen the garlic amount if you like.

Reviews

[raaika]

THIS is a fabulous recipe. My husband is from Tunisia, I surprised him with it yesterday..with a few changes. I added 1/2 a finely chopped onion, and about 1/2 c. water to make this more "saucey". Finally, I browned some Tunisian Meatballs, placed then in the sauce BEFORE cracking the eggs over the sauce. Served w/ fresh crusty french bread, he said it waS just like back home. :) I will make this many more times!

 

[Mohamed Achraf]

CHAKCHOUKA is by excellence a typical TUNISIAN dish. So easy to prepare, so easy to eat and to apreciate :) As far as I know, this dish have been teached in tunisian families since 6 generations. <br/>As a tunisian fan of CHAKCHOUKA, I would recommand it with tunsian hand made harissa and some "merguez" (tunisian spicy saucisses).<br/>And if by the way you are in visit to Tunis, ask about CHOUCHOU restaurant in down town. He is the king of chakchouka, and there you can taste all the possible declinations (sea fruits, summer vegetables, ...) ;)

 

[AaliyahsAaronsMum]

A fanfastic recipe! Had it for dinner with bread. The only other ingredient I added was 1 chopped onion. And I used your recipe for harrisa, Recipe #195470 which made this dish so wonderful! Thank you for sharing your recipe. It already in my keeper file.

 

[Chef Kate]

This was a wonderful supper, though I did cut down a bit on the "hot green pepper" using just a small amount of diced jalepeno. I also used Chef d'oeuvre's wonderful Tunisian Harissa Recipe #195470 which made it even better.

 

[Mirj2338]

I'm a big fan of chakchouka, or as I usually spell it, shakshuka. Living in Israel, I've been fortunate to sample all different kinds, from Moroccan to Lebanese. I like the amount of cumin here, it makes it pleasantly punguent and yummy. We had this for supper with some pita bread dipped in olive oil with za'atar. Thanks for posting this, it's one of the better shakshukas I've had!