BM #114 : Week 2, Day 1
Theme : Brighten Your Breakfast

Shakshuka is a breakfast dish from Middle East and North Africa. It’s eggs served with a tomato based sauce cooked with peppers and onions. This is an easy dish to prepare. You can add veggies of your choice and serve this dish for a quick lunch or dinner too. The regular spices that goes with this dish is paprika, chili powder and cumin.

There are many variations to this dish. You can add cooked polenta or tofu for a vegan/egg free version. I didn’t have enough fresh tomatoes to make a puree for this, so I used some readymade marinara sauce that I already had. I added some dried herbs to it and now it’s an Italian version Shakshuka :-). We had this as our brunch, so I served this with toasted bread and some avocados. This is a stovetop recipe, but it can be made in Instant pot as well. I would be trying that next.

Read on for the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 medium onion, chopped finely
• 1 medium red pepper, chopped finely
• 3 cloves garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup spinach, roughly chopped
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon chili powder, or per taste
• 2 teaspoons dried herbs (Italian seasoning)
• 2 cups marinara sauce or puréed tomatoes
• 1/4 cup water, optional
• 6 eggs
• salt as needed

Method:

1. Heat oil in a wide pan. Sauté onions, pepper and garlic. Once onion turns pink, add the spinach in and couple for a couple of minutes until it wilts.
2. Add paprika, chili powder, cumin, salt and dried herbs. Add marinara sauce or puréed tomatoes and water. Let it come to a slow boil and cook for about 7-8 minutes until it’s not runny anymore.
3. Crack one egg into a small bowl. With the ladle, make a small hole in the curry and carefully add the egg. Repeat with the rest of the eggs.
4. Let the eggs cook until they are done. Covering the pan would help it cook faster. Remove from heat once the eggs are cooked to your preference. Serve with bread slices and some avocado.

Check out the Blogging Marathon page for the other Blogging Marathoners doing this Week