Feta Shakshuka

I first ate Shakshuka when I visited Turkey in 1997. The dish is common in the middle east, with Tunisian origin and is basically comprised of poached eggs in a slightly spicy tomato sauce. I’m not even a huge fan of eggs (except for occasional runny eggs like sunny side up and poached at brunch), but for some reason this combination of eggs and tomatoes just works well for me. So much so, that I made this dish for Brinner (Breakfast for Dinner) this weekend. Shakshuka is traditionally made in a small cast iron skillet, but I didn’t have one so I used a nonstick instead.

Ingredients:

3 eggs
1/2 large white onion, diced
1 red bell pepper diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 T olive oil
2 T feta cheese
1/2 avocado cubed
1 t ground cumin
1 t cayenne pepper
1/2 T red pepper flakes
2 t salt (or to taste)
1 can (13 oz) tomato sauce
Pita or Toast for serving

Recipe:

1. In a pan, heat olive oil and sauté onion, garlic, red bell pepper for 5 minutes (or until onions are soft.)

2. Add in cumin, cayenne, and red pepper flakes. Mix thoroughly, and then add in tomato sauce and salt.

3. Heat on low-medium so the sauce reduces and the tomato flavor cooks for 10 minutes.

4. Reduce to a low simmer, and cracker 3 eggs in the dish. If your pan is large, you can add more, but make sure to space them out.

5. Cover and cook for 4 minutes to get a runny yolk, but cooked whites.

6. Uncover, turn off heat, and top with crumbled feta and avocado. The feta will slightly melt into the sauce.

7. Serve immediately with warmed pita or toast. Highly recommended this so you can scoop up all the saucy, yolk filled, goodness after you finish the eggs. Enjoy!