Shakshuka Recipe (Easy & Traditional)

Method

How it goes together

1. 01

   Step 1

   Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat. Add the capsicum and onion. Cook for 5 minutes, until the onion turns translucent.

   Softening the capsicum and onion in oil first builds the sweet base the sauce rests on; rushed vegetables stay raw and crunch against the eggs later.

2. 02

   Step 2

   Add the garlic and spices. Cook for 1 more minute.

   A minute in the hot oil turns the paprika, cumin and chilli from dusty to fragrant and stops the raw garlic bite carrying into the sauce.

3. 03

   Step 3

   Pour in the tin of tomatoes with the juice. Break up the tomatoes with your spoon. Season with salt and pepper and bring the sauce to a simmer.

   Breaking the whole tomatoes down gives a sauce thick enough to hold a well, and seasoning now means the sauce is right before the eggs go in and stirring is off the table.

4. 04

   Step 4

   Make small wells in the sauce with your spoon and crack an egg into each one. Cook for 5 to 8 minutes, until the eggs are done to your liking. Cover the pan with a lid to speed this up.

   The wells cradle each egg so the white sets around the yolk rather than running across the pan, and a gentle heat keeps the yolks soft while the whites firm.

5. 05

   Step 5

   Scatter over the coriander and parsley before serving.

   The raw herbs go on off the heat so they stay fresh and green and cut through the rich, spiced tomato.