Shakshuka

Shakshuka

Have you guys ever heard of Shakshuka?

Shakshuka is a North African dish that is now made throughout the Middle East. It is especially popular in Israel as a breakfast. Shakshuka is actually poached eggs in a simmering tomato puree with spices. The word "Shakshuka" comes from Arabic, meaning "all mixed up". It's fun to say, fun to make, and fun to eat. It is nourishing, filling, and one recipe I guarantee you'll make over and over again. Let's cook, shall we?

Ingredients : 

• 5 Fresh tomatoes (You can use a store-bought tomato puree if you want)
• 5 Eggs
• 2 Bell pepper (I use green and red bell pepper to add more colour)
• 3 Sausages (usually they use chorizo, but I don't eat pork so I use beef sausage. You can substitute the sausage using any meat like chicken or ground beef, or if you're vegan you can use a plant-based protein like tofu, tempeh, or mushroom)
• 1 Onion 
• 5 Cloves of garlic 
• Bread (I use white bread, you can use any bread that you have. If you don't have one it's okay, you can skip this part)
• Celery (for garnish, because I don't have any parsley)
• Cumin powder
• Coriander powder
• Chilli powder
• Salt
• Pepper
• Sugar
• Oil

You can easily find these ingredients in the market

Tools :

• 2 Pan
• Spatula
• Bowl
• Fork
• Knife

Directions :

Making tomato puree

1. We have to make the tomato puree first. 
2. Boil some water. 
3. Put all the tomatoes. 
4. Let it boiled for 10 minutes. While you're waiting, you can dice the onions, bell pepper, sausages, and mince the garlic.
5. Take a bowl and fill the bowl with cold water.
6. Check to see if your tomatoes have softened up using a tongs 
7. If it's already soft, take it out and put them in the cold water to stop the cooking process
8. Peel the skin carefully.
9. When they're all peeled, we're going to mash them. You can use a blender if you want a smoother result. I use a fork to mash them because I want to have that chunk of tomatoes in every bite.
10. It's done. Your tomato puree is ready.

all the ingredients are ready

It's Shakshuka Time!!

1. Heat up your pan on the medium heat
2. Add 3 tbsp of oil
3. Once it's hot pour the onion.
4. Cook the onion until it's withered. Add a pinch of salt to speed up the process.
5. Add the bell pepper, garlic, and sausages at the same time.
6. Stir until they're cooked
7. Add the tomato puree
8. Add 1 tbsp of cumin powder
9. Add 1 tbsp of coriander powder
10. Add 1 tbsp of chilli powder (you can add more if you like it spicy)
11. Add 1 tbsp of salt
12. Add 1 tbsp of sugar
13. Add 1 tbsp of pepper
14. Don't forget to taste. Adjust the measurement as your liking. 
15. Stir well and let it simmer
16. Once it's simmered, make 5 holes in your shakshouka using a spatula to add eggs. 
17. Cracked the eggs one by one and slowly put them in the hole that you made earlier.
18. Put a lid on the pan and let it simmer. (You can simmer it as long as you want, it depends on how you want your egg looks like. If you want the egg yolk still runny, you can simmer it for about 5 minutes. My mom likes her eggs hard-boiled, so I let them simmer for about 10 minutes)
19. While you're waiting, you're going to toast the bread
20. Heat up the other pan.
21. Pour 1 tbsp of oil on your pan (you can use butter to make it more savoury)
22. Cut the bread to half
23. Place it on the pan
24. Toast them for about 3 minutes or until the colour changed 
25. Flip to toast the other side.
26. Take the toast out.
27. Check the shakshuka, it should be ready by now. Turn off the heat. 
28. Cut the celery and sprinkle them on top. Serve it immediately. 
29. Time to eat !!
30. I recommend you to eat them straight out of the pan because that is the fun part.
31. Use the toast as your spoon. Dip the in the shakshuka sauce.
32. Happy Eating guys!! Afiyet Olsun! 

It is easy and fun, right? It only took less than an hour to make Shakshuka. You can feed 5 people using this recipe. Good luck on trying this recipe!

Pretty, right? 

You're lying if you're not drooling haha