Shakshuka

A recipe from cooking-ez.com

For 4 people, you will need:

• 1 1 kg tomato
• 2 100 g onion
• 3 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 4 2 tablespoons spices for couscous
• 5 4 eggs
• Total weight: 1,390 grams

Times:

Preparation	Cooking	Start to finish
28 min.	1 hour 10 min.	1 hour 38 min.

Step by step recipe

1	Rinse and dry 1 kg tomato, remove the hard stalk end and cut into quarters.
2	Prepare 100 g onion and chop finely.
3	Pour 4 tablespoons olive oil into a large pan on medium heat. When good and hot, add the chopped onion, salt and pepper and cook for 1 minute without colouring.
4	Add 2 tablespoons spices for couscous, mix well and cook for 1 or 2 minutes, stirring frequently. This will bring out the flavour of the spices.
5	Add the tomatoes, salt and pepper. Stir briefly, cover and turn down the heat.
6	Leave to simmer like this for about 40 minutes.
7	Take off the lid, remove and discard the tomato skins . This is not essential, but it is much pleasanter to eat without the skins.
8	Leave uncovered to reduce to the consistency of a fairly thick purée. Check the seasoning and your basic shakshuka is ready.
9	Shakshuka with baked eggs Preheat the oven to 390°F (200°C). Divide the shakshuka between 4 ramekins, filled to halfway.
10	Make a hollow in the centre of each ramekin with a small spoon.
11	Separate the whites from the yolks of 4 eggs. Pour an egg white into each ramekin and bake...
12	...until the white is set (about 5 minutes). Turn the oven off.
13	Slip an egg yolk onto each ramekin and put back in the oven for 1 or 2 minutes, just to heat the yolk through.
14	Your shakshuka with baked eggs is ready.

Remarks

There are no sweet (bell) peppers in this shakshuka, at least in the Algerian version which inspired my recipe.
You can peel the tomatoes before cooking, if you prefer. If you do, Step 7 is unnecessary.
The longer the shakshuka simmers, the better it will be, so feel free to cook it for longer, but on even lower heat.

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