This dish.... oh how I love a well-prepared shakshuka dish, ever since the first time I've tried it years ago. I Instantaneously fell in love ❤ with this dish which I have had in an Israeli restaurant here in North London. It was the best thing I have ever tasted that far for breakfast and it still remains that way. Shakshouka makes the best breakfast ever if you ask me.
What is shakshuka and what are its origins?
Shakshouka is a popular Israeli dish brought to Israel in the early '50s from the North African countries (Libya, Tunisia, Morocco) by Libyan Jews. Some believe it originates from Yemen or even the Ottoman Empire times.
Traditional shakshuka originally came from North Africa – Tunisia or Morocco is said to be its place of birth–but it is a popular breakfast dish in the Middle Eastern counties and you’ll find variations of it in Palestine, Israel, Egypt and many other places.
The only difference being in herbs and the spices added to the dish. It is delicious any way you make it. I actually never make it the same ever. I always like to change slightly the ingredients, especially the spices so it will be the same, yet so different every time. One thing never changes though, it is that it will always be piquant.
The dish consists of baked or stove cooked tomatoes, peppers, and eggs cooked (poached) into that delicious hearty tomatoey sauce.
Shakshuka is served directly in the dish is cooked in, mostly a skillet, sometimes a pan or tagine. It always comes with a nice bread, ideally, a crusty one but pitta or a softer bread like challah is perfect too.
I even love the name, what a wonderful name this dish can have, I just love it!
If you’ve ever had the well known Italian dish “eggs in purgatory” or Turkish menemen, two dishes are very similar.
How to make a good Shakshuka dish?
In terms of what you add to this dish, there are quite a few ways to make it, there is no right or wrong as long as the onion, peppers and eggs are present.
My slightly twisted version is the actual proof.
What is the twist here in my recipe?
There is a little twist to this shakshuka egg dish and that is because I always like giving my dishes tiny little twists. This is obviously a Mediterranean dish but I’ve added an exotic touch to it, which I find absolutely amazing. I think and hope you'll love it too!
The twist is that touch of teriyaki or soya sauce, a tiny amount of sweet Indonesian soya sauce and a nice and spicy touch by adding a little Sriracha sauce. I like my little spice and you know it.
I know you may think I'm mad but I have tried this with adding a square or two of that lovely Swiss chilli chocolate, and all I can say: it's a must-try. Definitely tempted to use it again and again.
It’s hard to express how good these eggs (cooked in tomato sauce) are, but I will get going with the recipe, as just talking about it doesn’t help that much... but only gets the functionality of the salivary glands to go mad, mine go crazy as I am typing this - I am a little hungry right now and the more see this pictures, the hungrier I get?.
How to serve shakshuka?
- This eggs in this tomato sauce has to be in my top 3 best breakfasts ever. Having said that, it makes a great and perfect lunch or even a superb dinner meal. Just make sure you have that crispy bread to have it with. Yum!
- I absolutely love it this way, but there are many other ways of preparing a shakshuka, like following an original Israeli shakshuka recipe, which is absolutely amazing too. It requires some onion, some garlic, peppers, cumin powder and parsley.
- I have added melting cheese (cheddar) but a few crumbs of feta cheese is amazing too.
Tips:
- to make it dairy-free just leave the cheese out or go for a vegan cheese option;
- to make it vegan replace the eggs with some cooked chickpeas or mushrooms add some olives for that salty punch (choose pitted olives)
- for a gluten-free option - have it with gluten-free bread and replace the soy sauce with a gluten-free option.
Few more egg recipes that you will definitely want to try:
- Eggs with spinach breakfast
- Quick breakfast Pizza slices with quail eggs and a special tomato sauce
- Waffle, quail eggs, bacon and maple syrup lush breakfast
- Eggs, spicy lamb koftas and salad boats
Shakshuka, egg dish with a twist
Equipment
- chopping board
- knife
- pan or skillet
Ingredients
- 1 can tomatoes (400g) chopped
- 300 ml passata
- 4 eggs
- 1 tsp soy sauce (sweet)
- 2 tbsp ketchup
- 1 tsp sriracha sauce
- 1/2 tsp Worchestershire sauce
- 1 tsp italian herbs (mixed)
- 1 pinch red chili flakes (optional)
- 1/2 tsp paprika powder
- mozzarella (grated, to sprinkle over at the end)
- springs parsley (a few, to garnish)
Instructions
- Place a larger frying pan or a skillet over medium heat. Add the tomato sauces, the teriyaki, soy sauce, ketchup, sriracha or any other chili sauce along with the Worcestershire sauce.
- Cook the tomato sauce until it starts to reduce slightly, I would say about 3-4 minutes.
- Crack in the eggs one at the time the right on top of the tomato mixture. You may choose to make a little dent into the sauce if you wish but that's not really necessary. Make sure eggs are scattered around the skillet in such a way that there will be a bit of space between them. You might want to cover the pan and cook the eggs for about 10-12 until those are cooked to your liking. Make sure you do not reduce the sauce too much as it will start burning.
- When the eggs are cooked exactly as you like, turn the heat off and garnish this dish with some chopped parsley and a handful of grated mozzarella cheese.
Notes
If you don't have passata you could use 1 tablespoon or two of tomato paste and you might need a drizzle of water just to dissolve that slightly. Of course, you can leave the cheese out if you don't want it. I love it and could not possibly leave it out. Enjoy this delicious dish with a nice crusty bread as I was saying or a pitta bread or for dinner are you could even have it on rice or poured over some corn tortillas. Who can ever dare to say you couldn’t?
Amazing!!
Nutrition
Agnieszka says
Made this for breakfast last Sunday and it was absolutely delicious!
Kayla DiMaggio says
Yum! I love a good shakshuka! This was so delicious and the perfect comfort food.
Toni says
This is such an amazing day starter!!
Ksenia says
As an Israeli, I make shakshuka very often, and your version looks amazing! Making it tomorrow and can’t wait to report
Chef Dennis says
Yum! I am so excited to try this dish!