Shakshuka

One of the new loves of my life is Shakshuka. I tried a pre-made jarred sauce from Aldi. It was OK, a little sweet and too spicy. With some recommendations from a friend I tried it on my own at home and had pretty good results. Tried it again at Tate cafe in Boston with  lamb meatballs which was magical and revolutionized how I think about Shakshuka.

Our Shakshuka was especially good with home made sourdough focaccia from friends

If you are not familiar, Shakshuka is a traditional dish made in the Mediterranean and Middle East.  A spicy sauce of vegetables and sometimes meat is made and eggs are poached on top. We have come to enjoy this for both breakfast and dinner. It can be really easy using canned tomatoes, or you can take your time and use up your beautiful summer harvest. It is a great way to incorporate veggies in with breakfast, and use up all those great CSA greens and veggies. This is also a great showcase for your summer herbs. Shakshuka is fabulous topped with parsley, cilantro, or basil.

Shakshuka: The Riddlehaus Way

1lb ground pork sausage
1 medium yellow onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, diced
1/2 jalapeno pepper, seeded & diced
1 medium zucchini, cubed
1 bunch Swiss Chard, separated, stalks diced, leaves chopped
1 14 oz can of diced tomatoes
1 cup tomato sauce
10 eggs

Directions:

1. Head a large, deep frying pan on medium heat. Add the sausage and cook for about 2 minutes. When the sausage has released some of its fat and juice add the onion, garlic, swiss chard stalks, zucchini and pepper. Continue to saute until the vegetables begin to get tender and the sausage is cooked through. (about 5 minutes) Add the Swiss chard leaves and toss to wilt them. Add the diced tomatoes and tomato sauce. Season with salt & pepper, bring up to a simmer,  cover and cook for 10 minutes to soften the zucchini.

2. Bring the sauce to a brisk simmer. Gently crack the eggs on top of the sauce. Monitor the cooking of the eggs carefully. Lowering the temperature too much will leave you with raw eggs, too  high a temperature will leave you with overcooked eggs. You want the sauce to be bubbling and slowly poaching the eggs. You can put the top on the pan to help cook the top of the eggs, but be careful, if it is too hot your eggs will cook  hard instead of being soft poached.

3. When the eggs are poached to your liking, serve topped with Harissa, herbs, feta cheese or spicy yogurt.