Shakshouka

Ingredients

Base

• 3 tbspolive oil
• 1onion, chopped
• 3 clovesgarlic
• 2green peppers, sliced
• 4tomatoes, chopped, or 400 g tinned
• 3 tbsptomato paste

Libyan seasoning

• 2 tbspfilfel chuma, the Libyan garlic and chilli paste
• 1 tspground caraway
• 1 tspground cumin
• 1 tspsweet paprika
• salt and black pepper

Optional

• 3merguez or Libyan sausages, sliced
• 1potato, diced small
• 1 tspharissa

Eggs

• 4to 6 eggs

To finish

• chopped parsley or coriander
• olive oil

To serve

• bread, torn, for scooping
• no cutlery

Directions

1. Heat the oil in a wide, shallow pan, ideally cast iron. A wide pan matters, because the eggs need to sit in a single layer with sauce around each one. Fry the onion until soft and golden, then add the garlic and peppers.
2. Cook the peppers down properly, for 10 minutes at least, until they are soft and sweet rather than squeaky. Now add the tomato paste and fry it for 2 or 3 minutes before anything else goes in.
3. Add the filfel chuma, caraway, cumin and paprika and cook another minute. Simmer it for 20 minutes, uncovered, until it thickens considerably. Cook the sauce down properly before the eggs go anywhere near it. It should be thick enough that a spoon drawn through leaves a channel that holds for a second.
4. Taste it and get the seasoning right now, because you cannot stir it once the eggs are in. Add the sausage and cook it through if you are using it. Make a proper hollow for each egg, right down to the pan, so the egg sits in a nest rather than sliding across the surface.
5. Crack each egg into a cup first and slide it into its well. Season the eggs themselves with salt and pepper. Now cover the pan and cook on a low heat for 6 to 10 minutes.
6. Check at 6 minutes: the whites should be fully opaque and the yolks still soft. Take it off the heat while the yolks are still runny, because they keep cooking in the hot sauce for another minute or two. Scatter herbs and a thread of olive oil over.
7. Serve it in the pan, in the middle of the table. Do not stir the eggs into the sauce, which turns it into scrambled eggs and is a different dish entirely.

Technique

• Filfel chuma is the Libyan garlic and chilli paste and is sold in North African shops.
• Tunisian versions often include more harissa and sometimes merguez.
• It is at its best made in a cast iron pan that goes to the table.

Substitutions

• Harissa in place of filfel chuma, which is hotter and less garlicky.
• Good tinned tomatoes, which are often better than out-of-season fresh.

Variations

• With merguez sausage.
• With potato diced into the sauce, which is common in Libya.
• Green shakshouka, made with herbs and greens instead of tomato.

History

Libyan versions lean on tomato paste, filfel chuma and often merguez, and it is eaten at any hour with bread.

Frequently asked questions

What is Shakshouka?

Shakshouka is a breakfast from Libya: eggs poached in a spiced tomato and pepper sauce, eaten from the pan. Libyan versions lean on tomato paste, filfel chuma and often merguez, and it is eaten at any hour with bread.

How long does Shakshouka take to make?

Shakshouka takes 15 min of preparation and 35 min of cooking. The recipe makes 4 servings. It is rated easy to make.

What can I substitute in Shakshouka?

Yes, within limits. Harissa in place of filfel chuma, which is hotter and less garlicky. Good tinned tomatoes, which are often better than out-of-season fresh.

What is the most important thing to get right in Shakshouka?

Cook the peppers down properly, for 10 minutes at least, until they are soft and sweet rather than squeaky. Now add the tomato paste and fry it for 2 or 3 minutes before anything else goes in.