(upbeat music)
- What's up, guys?
Suzy here from TheMediterraneanDish.com.
Today we are about to make
one of my favorite dishes of all times,
and it is shakshuka.
Shakshuka comes to us from North Africa,
so think Tunisia and Morocco,
but it's super popular throughout the Middle East
and the Mediterranean.
So you'll see it in Israel, Egypt,
and it all starts with the tomato.
So shakshuka is basically eggs that are poached
in this beautiful, gorgeous, chunky tomato sauce,
and you guys will just be blown away
by how easy it is to make.
First, we're starting with the tomatoes, and for this,
if you have some that are kinda softened,
that's what you wanna use for shakshuka.
Since these are too soft here,
I'm going to cut them a certain way,
so they're not super messy.
So all I need to do is just find a way
to chop my super ripe tomatoes into real small dies
or whatever.
It doesn't really matter.
One of the questions that I get often
is what kind of tomatoes are good for shakshuka.
Honestly, most any kind of tomato will work
really well here.
It's great if you can mix up a couple different varieties
of tomato to get more of that umami
and more of that sweet taste from the different varieties,
so whatever you have on hand will work.
Yes, it's messy when you're working with super ripe tomatoes
but I like it.
Grab all the juicy goodness, and in my bowl.
And then we're gonna take the rest of this party
and go to the stove so I can show you how to make shakshuka.
I am using a very well-seasoned cast-iron skillet.
If you don't have a well-seasoned cast-iron skillet,
don't use it with your tomatoes.
As long as it's well seasoned, it's great.
Otherwise, use anything else,
such as nonstick or whatever you have on hand.
So I'm gonna get this nice and warm on mediumish high.
And a good bit of extra virgin olive oil.
About three tablespoons or so.
Onions, green peppers, and garlic
is what we start with here.
So that goes in.
Chopped bell peppers.
And then we have a few garlic cloves here.
Cook until the veggies have softened
and maybe gained some color.
A few spices to add a lot of warmth and flavor
right off the bat.
I'm going with coriander, paprika, and cumin.
If you are into spicy,
then add a good helping of red pepper flakes.
And then we have a pinch of kosher salt and black pepper.
A little bit of char is great
'cause it adds depth to a shakshuka.
And we're gonna add the star ingredient,
our fresh chopped tomatoes.
And then we have a little bit of tomato sauce.
We're gonna let them cook
until they've reduced a little bit
and they've softened and created that nice and chunky sauce
that we're looking for.
Things are nicely bubbling.
All I need to do now is turn it down, cover,
and let this party simmer
until it has reduced and become juicy.
Things have been happily simmering,
so let's take a quick look.
You see that?
Everything has softened into this beautiful chunky sauce.
Now I'm gonna leave it uncovered for a few minutes
to help the liquid reduce just a little bit.
It's starting to reduce and thicken,
and that's exactly what I'm looking for,
but I still want some juice in it,
so now is a great time to crack those eggs
and add them into my shakshuka sauce.
So just use the back of your spoon
and kind of push down on it
to make a little bit of room for your egg,
and we're gonna crack our first egg.
Are you ready?
Into this well that we've created.
This will take a good amount of eggs, so six of them.
We're gonna cover this baby up one more time
to let the egg yolks settle.
This is looking great.
You'll notice that some of the eggs are tucked in
and some are out there.
This is shakshuka.
It is messy, and it's gorgeous, and it's absolutely tasty.
I love it.
We have just a few finishing touches.
If you like it spicy,
add just a sprinkle of crushed red pepper flakes.
And then I have parsley and mint to freshen things up.
Really, my favorite way to serve shakshuka family style
is just like this in the pan.
Everybody can dig in and take whatever they want.
I love to serve it with an assortment of different breads.
So it's great with challah bread.
It's great with pita.
It's great with whatever bread you have.
Go ahead and make your shakshuka.
The recipe in on TheMediterraneanDish.com.
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I'll see you later.
Ciao.