Journalist by Day, Spontaneous by Night: Spontaneous Moment #42: Shakshuka!

When I was on vacation in Israel, I was introduced to this amazing, melt in your mouth meal called Shakshuka. It's a simple meal you can eat for breakfast, lunch or dinner that mainly consists of tomato and eggs usually served in a skillet.

Meal in Israel

So when I got back to the states, I decided to attempt this dish myself. Why not create an American version of the Israeli delicacy?

AMERICAN SHAKSHUKA

Ingredients:

1 tbsp olive oil
1/2 medium yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup green onion
4 cups ripe diced tomatoes, or 2 cans (14 oz. each) diced tomatoes
1 can 8 oz. tomato paste
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp red pepper flakes
Pinch of cayenne pepper
Salt and pepper to taste
5-6 eggs
1/2 tbsp fresh chopped parsley
Shredded Parmesan cheese to taste
Pita bread

Heat a deep, large skillet on medium. Slowly warm olive oil in the pan. Add chopped onion and saute 5 minutes or until the onion begins to soften. Add garlic and continue to saute until the mixture for 2 minutes or until fragrant.

Toss in green onions. Add tomatoes and tomato paste to pan, stir well until ingredients are blended. Toss in the remaining spices, stir well, and allow the mixture to simmer over medium heat for 5-7 minutes until the tomato mixtures starts to reduce.

Mixing up the sauce

It should look like this after 5-7 minutes

Add salt and pepper and more cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes for a spicier dish (My southern roots LOVE it spicy).

Crack the eggs over the tomato mixture, spacing them evenly over the sauce.

I like to cook my eggs over easy so that I can dip the pita bread in the yolk. Cover the pan and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the eggs are cooked and the sauce has slightly reduced. Check on your mixture every 5 minutes to make sure that the sauce doesn't reduce too much (which can lead to burning).