Tuesday 19 September 2017

Eggs with a Kick : Shakshuka!


The humble egg. Much maligned for its supposedly unhealthy cholesterol content. Bah! I never listened, never believed and ate 3 eggs a day to no ill effects.

It's a superfood (in my books), loaded with nutrients that support the formation of a little chick. If it's good for the little chick, it's good for me. 


And to those of you who eat only the whites and discard the yolks, I say to you, bah! Double bah! The yolks and the most nutritious part of the egg and the most delicious. Hey, hey...don't throw rotten eggs at me, OK? I'm just expressing my opinion on one of my favorite foods and ingredients.


Whenever I see a recipe for eggs as the main ingredient, I am always interested. This dish, Shakshuka, is very exotic and I attempted it once before. I did not execute it particularly well back then.

Since I was able to buy some vine ripened tomatoes, I decided to revisit Shakshuka to eat my favorite eggs in delicious tomato sauce. This time, I added smoked paprika which made this version so much tastier. Too bad I did not have crusty bread or else my meal would have been perfect!


Shakshuka
Recipe source : Adapted from Tory Avey

Ingredients :
- 4 large eggs
- 6 large vine ripened tomaotoes, chopped
- 4 jalapenos, seeds removed and diced (original recipe uses green peppers, I was just trying to finish up my jalapenos)
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 1 tsp cumin
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- salt to taste
- a handful of Italian parsley, chopped
- 4 tbsp olive oil

Method :
1. Heat olive oil in a cast iron pan (or non-stick pan) and saute chopped onions until soft.
2. Add minced garlic and continue to saute until aromatic.
3. Add chopped jalapenos and saute until softened.
4. Add chopped tomatoes and cook until tomatoes are softened and broken up.
5. Add tomato paste, cumin, smoked paprika and salt to taste.
6. Continue to cook until tomato mixture is thick on less watery.
7. Make 4 gaps in the tomato mixture and break an egg into the gaps.
8. Cover the pan and cook until the egg whites are set but the yolks are still soft.
9. Garnish with chopped Italian parsley.

32 comments:

  1. I agree with you.

    I don't limit my eggs, if I take, I take.

    Anyway, it's a cheaper protein option, kan?

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    Replies
    1. Yes, cheaper than meat and yet still so good to eat!

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  2. when I saw your photo I thought you went and eat this dish at Wild Honey. It looks so good! I love to eat eggs including the yolks too so I say yay to your post. now I am trying to learn to eat runny yolk a little bit. one small step at a time.

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    Replies
    1. I haven't tried any outside and I will if I see it on the menu, just to see if I got it right hee..hee..

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  3. shakshuka...saya suka saya suka...yummyliciouse PH

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  4. Wow! Your pan looks pretty and colourful with the fried eggs tossed with greens. I simply love eggs & the more the merrier! I would rather eat the yolk than the egg whites.

    You should be living in the farm and rear 100 chickens so that you could collect their eggs every morning in a basket. After make breakfasts, you can bake cakes and then slaughter the chickens one by one. Roast them or make curry chicken and invite all the bloggers to makan beramai-ramai with lots of salted Bunga Telor gifts in your Bunga Kantan Wedding party. Sounds so shiok and I am sure everyone is excited now.

    #AyamBerkahwinParty #SaltedBungaTelor #BungaKantanWedding #ALLinvited

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    Replies
    1. TM, I salute you very overactive imagination! You had me picturing myself slaughtering chickens and all and then parading in my wedding gown after cooking and baking wahahahaha!!!

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  5. I never limit my intake of egg, feel like eating it, I eat...

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  6. So much can be done with eggs! Cannot survive our homecooked dishes without them, really... You made them look so colourful in this dish, PH!

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    Replies
    1. It's very versatile. I never get tired of eggs!

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  7. I love eggs! That looks so good! Absolutely perf-egg!!!

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  8. I cook eggs everyday so you can imagine that in my house, we eat 2 cartons of eggs per month. Lol.

    Shakshuka. A lovely name and a lovely dish as well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My mum used to buy lots and lots of eggs too when me and my brothers were growing up!

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  9. Mcm senang je nak buat tu LL...
    Mungkin boleh jugak tambah daging hancur kan...
    Kenyang sampai petang mcm ni pekena telur sampai 4 biji hihi...
    I pun suka hokey telur kuning. Anak tak suka, i yang pungut bagi settle haha....

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    1. Hainom, kalau tambah daging hancur, lagi sedap. Eh, LL tak bantai 4 biji sekali gus lah hah...hah...

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  10. Eggs are my favorite be it runny egg steam egg or hard boiled egg

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  11. Interesting, tapi kalo masak, maybe the yolk tu ai masak betul2 cause ai tak makan telur separuh masak.

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    1. Boleh juga biar masak betul2. Ikut suka hati :)

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  12. I love eggs and I don't throw away the yolks.

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  13. So yummy cooked in this spicy sauce! This shakshuka is perfect to eat any time of day!

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    Replies
    1. I could have it 3 times in a day. The flavors improve upon sitting.

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  14. heheh, i share your exact sentiments about eggs ... or should i say eggs-act sentiments :D and your shakshuka looks super-vibrant! pass me a pan! :D

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    Replies
    1. I am glad you don't listen to all that hogwash :)

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  15. I first thought that there'd be some minced meat in your shakshuka but it's only tomatoes. Yours look a lot nicer than some of the ones I had outside...and yeah, you need some bread to soak up all the goodness. Eggs are a superfood in my books too. And to those who don't eat yolks, I say to them...then don't eat eggs...wuahahahaha! ;D

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    Replies
    1. Thanks for the compliments :) It would be great to have minced meat in there for a more substantial meal. I kept some of the tomato sauce and it tasted even better the next day. I agree - if you don't eat the yolks, might as well forget about eating eggs!

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  16. Yeah, this Shakshuka/baked egg is a very popular item in breakfast/brunch menu and it's not cheap! Cook at home definitely save a lot and we can add in whatever we like such as sausages, minced meat, brinjal, cheese, etc to make it more bountiful!

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    Replies
    1. Those ingredients you suggested would make the shakshuka even more delicious!

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