Shakshuka – The original recipe!
I can’t imagine my life without shakshuka! I love this aromatic and spicy pan-fried dish and grew up with it. It’s simple, yet super tasty and you can easily make it yourself. Basically, all you have to do is make a simple tomato and bell pepper sauce and fry the eggs in it. Here is the original shakshuka recipe from my cookbook.
What is shakshuka?
Sometimes I am really surprised when one of my friends tells me that he/she doesn’t know shakshuka yet. My first question is then: When are you coming over for breakfast? Traditionally, shakshuka is actually a breakfast dish, but it is also very popular as a quick lunch or dinner.
So: Shakshuka (shakshuka or shakshouka) is a pan-fried dish with a sauce made from stewed tomatoes and peppers. It is then pressed into hollows and eggs are added and cooked in the spicy sauce. It is very popular throughout the Levant and is often varied.
Shakshuka originates from the Levant (Lebanon, Syria, Palestine, Israel) and North African countries. The dish can actually look very different depending on the country and is sometimes served without eggs.
Shakshuka ingredients: What you need for the original
The shakshuka recipe is very simple and quick. All you need are a few selected ingredients. I make a distinction between the basic ingredients for the original shakshuka and the ingredients for variations.
Basic ingredients for shakshuka
- Tomatoes and peppers: These are sautéed in a pan to make a really tasty and spicy sauce for the shakshuka.
- Garlic and onions: If you love garlic, feel free to add more to the sauce. Both ingredients make the sauce nice and hearty.
- Spices: Add a little paprika powder and a pinch of cinnamon to the shakshuka sauce.
- Eggs: There is no shakshuka without eggs. The eggs are then cooked in the delicious sauce. You can then decide for yourself how done they should be.
- Olive oil: Good olive oil is not only healthy, but also adds a lot of flavor to the pan-fried dish.
- Chili or harissa: To make it really spicy, add some chili or the delicious harissa chili paste to the pan. You can decide for yourself how spicy you want it. In theory, you can also leave this shakshuka ingredient out or use more of it.
Additional ingredients for variations
What I love about shakshuka is its versatility. You can really modify the dish to your heart’s content and cook lots of delicious shakshuka variations. My favorite ingredients for variations include:
- Feta: You can expand the basic ingredients for original shakshuka with delicious feta. It’s quick and absolutely delicious. You can find a recipe here.
- Eggplant: Simmer eggplant in the sauce and experience a completely new shakshuka variation. Click here for the recipe.
- Chickpeas: If you add cooked chickpeas to the sauce, your shakshuka will be even richer and really filling!
- Flatbread: You read that right! Sometimes I have leftover flatbread and I simply tear it up and add it to the sauce. The bread then soaks up everything and the result is an incredibly delicious shakshuka variation. I even have a recipe for you.
- Spinach: Here the shakshuka is all green. Instead of tomatoes and peppers, the base is made from spinach. Together with a little feta, it makes a real highlight for the evening. You can find the recipe here.
- Zucchini: Courgette goes perfectly with shakshuka! I also like to combine the zucchini with eggplant and cherry tomatoes to make a kind of ratatouille shakshuka. I also have a recipe for you.
- Herbs: I love fresh herbs! If you like, you can chop fresh mint, parsley or even some coriander and garnish the shakshuka with it. Not only does it look great, it also tastes great!
I could continue this list forever, because there are no limits here. Just open your fridge and see what you have. That’s why shakshuka is also great for using up leftovers.
Shakshuka recipe in 4 simple steps
The original shakshuka recipe is very simple and can be cooked in just 4 steps.
- Prepare the sauce: The first step is to make the sauce from stewed tomatoes and peppers. To do this, I like to fry the onions with a pinch of sugar to caramelize them. The remaining ingredients for the sauce are then added and sautéed and braised over a medium heat.
- Make wells for the eggs: Before adding the eggs to the pan, it is best to make a small well in the sauce for each egg. Then crack an egg and let it slide right into one of the wells. This helps the egg to cook better in the sauce.
- Use a lid: You can speed up the cooking time of the eggs by placing a suitable lid on the pan. The eggs will “steam up”, but the egg whites will set better and won’t remain gooey. Alternatively, you can simply place the pan (if it is a suitable one) in the preheated oven and leave the eggs to set.
- Garnish: I like to garnish my shakshouka with some fresh coriander. Alternatively, you can also use parsley, for example.
Shakshuka can be enjoyed straight from the pan with flatbread or crusty baguette.
3 tips for the perfect shakshuka
There’s not really much to consider when cooking shakshuka, but here are my 3 best tips on how to make sure your original shakshuka is perfect.
- For the best taste: The quality of dishes with few ingredients is particularly important. Of course, a ripe tomato in season tastes much better and more aromatic than an unripe one. That’s why I like to use chopped or peeled canned tomatoes, as they are always in season. However, make sure you buy a good product, as this really does have a significant effect on the taste and consistency.
- For perfectly cooked eggs: Each egg is naturally slightly different in size. This also affects the cooking time. I like the poached eggs in the shakshuka to be creamy, but the egg whites should already be set. You can regulate this quite easily with the temperature. It is therefore better to turn the heat down a notch and let the eggs cook gently and a little more slowly. Depending on the size of the eggs, this may take longer or shorter. You can also use a wooden spoon to carefully pull the egg white away from the yolk. This gives the egg white more surface area to cook faster.
- For the best sauce result: Make small wells in the sauce for the eggs. The sauce must have the right consistency for this and not be too runny. That’s why I say again: make sure you use good canned tomatoes. Cheaper products often have a higher water content and are not aromatic. You can also give the sauce a little more time to reach the right consistency. If everything is right, you can make good wells to put the eggs in.
I associate shakshuka with a totally homely feeling – a feeling of security, especially when it gets cooler outside. I feel like I’m bringing back a little bit of summer with every piece of bread I eat with the savory sauce – and somehow I always have a childhood memory.
I hope you have lots of fun trying it out and, of course, enjoying it. Please write me a comment to let me know how you liked it and leave a rating for the shakshuka recipe.
Recipe for original Shakshuka
Ingredients
- 4 Eggs
- 4 TBSP Olive oil
- 1 Onion
- 1 Red bell bell pepper
- 1 medium hot chili
- 2 Garlic cloves
- 1 TSP Cinnamon
- 1 pinch Sugar
- 2 1/2 TSP Salt
- 1 TSP paprika powder noble sweet
- 20 ml Water
- 1 small can diced tomatoes
- 1 small handful Fresh coriander or parsley
- 1 Pinch Za'atar Optional
Zubereitung
- Finely chop the onion and fry with olive oil and a pinch of sugar in a pan over medium heat for approx. 5 minutes until translucent.
- Finely chop the peppers, chilli (seeded) and garlic and add to the onions in the pan.
- Mix in the salt, cinnamon and paprika powder and fry for approx. 8 minutes over medium heat. (You can also use some harissa instead of the chilli).
- Add the diced tomatoes and a little water to the pan and continue to simmer over a medium heat for 10 minutes.
- To poach the eggs in the sauce, use a spoon to push 4 small areas into the thick sauce and crack an egg into each. If you wish, you can salt the eggs a little.
- Put a lid on the pan and wait 6 minutes. (Depending on how firm you like the yolk, you can vary the time).
- Chop the coriander/parsley and sprinkle on the finished dish.
- Optional: sprinkle the eggs with a pinch of za'atar.
Notes
Nährwerte
Leave the cutlery behind: how to eat shakshuka
Shakshuka is always served directly in the pan. There is usually no cutlery. Instead, delicious bread is served. Which bread you choose is entirely up to you. Traditionally, however, it is the thin Lebanese flatbread or a fluffy pita bread. Simply tear off a piece of bread and dip it in the spicy sauce.
You can also follow me on Instagram for even more inspiration about Levante cuisine.
