Shakshuka is one of my favorite dishes to make when I have veggies or eggs that I need to use up soon. This time the item I needed to get rid of was potatoes. Which yes, I could have gone the mashed potatoes route but I was CRAVING shakshuka so I decided to go a little nuts and add it to my shakshuka dish. If you do not have potatoes to use up then you can skip the potato section and will have DELICIOUS traditional shakshuka. However, If you do need to use up a few potatoes, join me on this weird potato filled shakshuka journey.
Tool Kit:
- A tablespoon of olive oil
- 20 tomatoes quartered
- 1 yellow onion, minced
- Garlic, minced (you can use however much you’d like I won’t stop you, but I will judge you if you use less than 5 cloves)
- 2 bell peppers
- 6 eggs (or however many you can fit in your pot, this was just the amount mine was able to handle)
- ¼ teaspoon of nutmeg
- To taste: Salt, Pepper, cumin, paprika, and cayenne pepper
- Optional: spicy peppers you have on hand, minced
- Optional: a handful of potatoes, quartered and cooked
- Pita bread or if you don’t have pita naan is also delicious
A Few Notes
- If you want to make the dish vegan you can leave out the eggs or if you want to go the complete opposite and make it meaty you can do that too.
- In my photo I used WAY TOO MANY potatoes. So if you make it with potatoes or skip the potatoes all together, Do not be alarmed when it looks different from mine. I promise you, yours looks better.
- Feeds 4 people
- Total cook time: roughly 1 hour
Let’s Do This!!
Put your dutch oven pot, or whatever deep pot you have that has a lid, on medium high heat with a splash of olive oil. Once the pot is warmed up add in your onions. Leave them on there until they are beautifully caramelized, this will take around 10-15 minutes. Be sure to add more olive oil if your onions stop sizzling. Next add in your peppers and cook them down for 5-10 minutes. Next add in your garlic and spices. Stir them around for a couple of seconds until all the spices and the garlic are toasted, be careful not to burn the spices. Next add in the tomatoes (and the potatoes if you are including them today) and stir till everyone is coated in the spices. Put the lid on, lower the heat down to medium low, and leave it alone. You can check on it every 10 minutes to give it a nice stir and make sure the tomatoes are breaking down nicely.
Once the tomatoes have turned into a beautiful stew consistency, it is time to add the eggs. Create a well for each egg and gently crack an egg into each well. Put the lid back on. Now you can either wait for it to cook on the stovetop OR you can take your enamel pot and place it in an oven set to 400F for 3-5 minutes.
Once the eggs are cooked to your liking set the pot on the table and serve with bread.
This dish is best eaten right out of the pot. But if you don’t trust your dinner guests not to make a big mess you can also serve it up on a plate.
Enjoy!