Saturday, 7 March 2015

Shakshouka Dipping Eggs




I've seen so many recipes lately for exotic breakfast and brunch dishes and have struggled to make the leap away from the classic Full English, crispy warm pastries or American-style fluffy pancakes, but this morning called for something a little more exciting. So I whipped up my own version of a recipe I read a few months ago on The Londoner, adjusted for student living by adding extra laziness and taking away some ingredients! It took me about half an hour in total to prep and cook and it went down very well with a grateful housemate - who I'd persuaded to join me on a very messy Friday night out with the promise of breakfast!

Serves 2

Ingredients:
1 red pepper
1 tbsp olive oil (or any oil suitable for frying)
1 carton/tin chopped tomatoes
2 or 3 large eggs - depending on how hungry you are!
Oregano and/or basil
Mild chilli powder
Worcestershire Sauce
Salt & Pepper
4 or more slices of bread for toasting, and butter!


1. Heat up the oil in a small-medium sized frying pan or skillet. Chop your pepper into small-ish chunks, remembering not to include the seeds! 
2. Soften the chopped peppers by frying them gently for a few minutes. I use the colour of the oil as a clue to whether they're soft enough - it goes orange from the juice when they're cooking.
3. Add the chopped tomatoes and stir. To make sure you don't leave any in the carton or tin, put a little water in it and swirl around before pouring into the pan. 
4. Add a splash of Worcestershire Sauce, about a teaspoon of mild chilli powder (or more if you want it extra spicy), and herbs to taste. My tomatoes had basil in them already but you could add your own to plain tomatoes, and oregano always works amazingly. Salt and tomatoes are best friends! Be generous with the salt at this point but add it gradually and taste as you go along to make sure it's not too much.  Let the mixture bubble for about 5 mins to cook off any excess water.
5. Crack in your eggs! This is the exciting part. My pan fits about 3 large eggs but it was a generous helping for two - 2 eggs would be fine. Try not to break the yolk so that you can dip in later.
6. Let it bubble away on a medium heat until the eggs are cooked - you will be able to tell because the egg white will no longer be transparent, just like poaching eggs in water. 
7. Season with black pepper and extra salt if needed, then serve in the pan (on a chopping board so you don't scorch the table!) with a pile of buttery toast to dip with. Serious comfort food.


Let me know if you try it by commenting below! 


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