North African / Middle Eastern · Breakfast · Easy
Shakshuka
Rome's most famous pasta. Silky egg and Pecorino sauce clinging to every strand, studded with crisp guanciale. No cream, ever.
The whole recipe in 60 seconds
Shakshuka, in 5 ideas
- Bloom the spices in oil. Thirty seconds in hot fat wakes up cumin and paprika. Raw spices taste dusty.
- Cover to set the tops. The lid traps steam so the whites cook through without any flipping.
- Runny yolks are the sauce. Pull it off the heat while the yolks still jiggle. They firm up as it sits.
- Feta goes on last. It softens in the heat but keeps its salty punch.
- Bread is not optional. Something crusty to scoop with. Pita, sourdough, whatever you have.
What you need
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 1 red bell pepper, diced
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/2 tsp chili flakes
- 1 (28 oz) can crushed tomatoes
- 1 tsp sugar
- Salt and black pepper
- 4 to 6 eggs
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta
- Fresh cilantro or parsley, chopped
- Crusty bread, for serving
How to make it
Directions
- Heat the olive oil in a large oven-safe skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and bell pepper and cook until soft, about 8 minutes.
- Stir in the garlic, cumin, smoked paprika, and chili flakes. Cook 1 minute, until fragrant.
- Pour in the crushed tomatoes and add the sugar. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer 10 minutes, until slightly thickened.
- Use the back of a spoon to press 4 to 6 wells into the sauce. Crack an egg into each well.
- Cover the skillet and cook 5 to 7 minutes, until the whites are set but the yolks still jiggle.
- Scatter the feta and herbs over the top.
- Serve straight from the pan with crusty bread for scooping.
Wells keep the eggs put. Press a spoon into the sauce before cracking each egg in. It stops them from drifting and helps the whites set evenly.