Fiery shakshuka
Red hot spicy shakshuka, gauranteed to raise the dead after a post-shutdown bender.
Equipment
- Tagine (optional)
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil extra virgin
- 1 onion
- 4 cloves garlic
- 1 pinch ground cumin lightly toasted and freshly ground is best
- 1 pinch smoked paprika
- 1 super hot chilli eg Carolina reaper, Trinidad scorpion etc
- 1 red capsicum
- 4 tomatoes or two 410g cans whole peeled, drained
- salt and pepper to taste
- 4 eggs as fresh as you can get
- 1 handful continental parsley
Instructions
- Finely chop the onion, capsicum and tomatoes. Smash and finely chop the garlic, and very finely chop the chilli, seeds and all. Use gloves if you are not a fan of burning skin, and try to avoid rubbing your eye or other sensitive parts unless that tickles your fancy.
- Heat the oil in a medium hot frypan or tagine. Lightly soften the garlic and onions In the oil. You are aiming for sweetness, but not too much colour.
- Add the paprika, cumin and pepper and stir over heat for 20 seconds or so until fragrant. Add the chill and cook for a further 20 seconds.
- Raise the heat a little and add the capsicum to the pan to soften. A bit of colour here is fine, and adds to the sweetness.
- Add the tomatoes to the pan, reduce heat a little and cover. Cook the tomatoes for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally until the tomatoes start to break down. If you are using canned tomatoes, make sure you drain them well first, and reserve their liquid for another dish.
- When the tomatoes have broken down and you have a nice thick sauce, reduce the heat to low. Use a spoon to make a hollow and crack the egg into the pan. Repeat for the remaining eggs. Cover, and gently cook until the eggs are done to your liking. It is a fine line between perfectly runny yolks and hard boiled rocks, so keep a good eye on it.
- Finely chop the parsley and garnish. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Notes
This is the perfect heart-starter after a rough night. Feel free to spice this up as much as you like to really shock yourself into consciousness. I usually find one super hot chilli does the trick, but your constitution may vary.
I like to make this in a tagine which steams the eggs to perfection, but a heavy cast iron frypan with lid works just as well.
Serve on some good sourdough toast rubbed with fresh garlic. Optionally sprinkle with some sharp cheese to up the fat content and give it an extra umami boost.