Happy Saturday!
I'm so glad because it’s been the longest week at work, ever.
Yesterday it snowed and I still got that same excited feeling looking outside
and seeing that the world outside my window had been transformed, like
everything had been covered in a white blanket. I don't know, but there's just
something about it! Here in the UK when there’s even the slightest degree of
bad weather everyone goes into a meltdown (pun intended), its all they seemed
to be talking about on the news, that and Trump x Russia... but lets not get into politics, we could be here a while!
When I woke up this morning however everything was back to normal, but still very cold. For me a cozy weekend morning begins with a nice breakfast, by that I mean one that I've actually put effort into (and not a bowl of cocopops), or in some cases rather than breakfast we have brunch! depending on the extent of the lie-in.
Today I made Shakshuka, if you haven't heard of it or tasted it yet then you're in for a treat. Its basically a middle eastern dish featuring veg and egg and its delicious. الØمد لله
So without further ado, lets get you acquainted with the recipe!
You'll need a few ingredients that you most likely already have in the fridge:
- Onion (red or white)
- Red pepper & green pepper
- Garlic
- Tin of Italian chopped tomatoes
- Tomato puree
- Garlic
- Basil & corriander
- Salt, black pepper and spices
To start with I chopped up my onion, I ended up using about 3 quarters of a medium sized one
I diced it into quite small pieces, because I'm not a fan of chunky onion in my food, but either way I would definitely recommend smaller pieces for this recipe.
Then I chopped up my peppers and finely minced the garlic.. also I found a tiny red pepper inside the larger one, but couldn't bear to take it to the chopping block, so it survived this ordeal.
It terms of quantity, feel free to adjust as you see best, but for reference I used a little less that three quarters of a red pepper, about half a green one and a clove of garlic.
Then in a non-stick pan I heated up some extra virgin olive oil until it was sizzling and added in my onions and garlic - you want to saute this until the onions are soft and have a slight colouring.
At this point I added in my flavouring and spices! That is half a tsp of paprika, half tsp of red chilli, half tsp of mixed masala (heavy on the cumin) and salt & black pepper to taste. You need to stir this all in and cook for a few minutes to incorporate.
Then I tipped in my peppers and cooked them for a few minutes to soften them up, there's no need to cook them for too long at this stage.
After that I stirred in two spoons of tomato puree and poured in my tin of chopped tomatoes, this had a few reasonably large chunks of tomato but with the heat this reduces down, you can also use your spatula to press and stir this in (also excuse the foggy picture!)
This mixture then needs to be cooked on medium heat for around 5 minutes until it has reduced, as is shown above. Be sure to stir it every now and then to make sure it doesn't burn
I then chopped up some basil and coriander - omit or use more depending on your preference.
Then I made two wells in my tomato mixture and cracked an egg into each, but in truth I could have done with one more.
I sprinkled the coriander and basil on top with an extra pinch of black pepper, then covered my pan and cooked the mixture for around 5-7 minutes on medium heat. This resulted in well cooked eggs, just how I like it! but if you prefer your eggs with a more runny yolk cook it for less time.
Voilà , the end result! I served it with some buttered white toast. Make sure to eat it while its still warm, much tastier that way.
On this occasion we had it for breakfast but shakshuka can also be eaten as a light lunch or evening meal with sides. Or as part of an extravagant brunch as shown above - also how cute is my little pan! the perfect amount for one person or two if you feel like sharing (most unlikely).
😋
Enjoy!
Q x
No comments