Shakshuka

Farka

Description

This recipe is from Yotam Ottolenghi's vegetarian cookbook "Plenty". It was published in guardian.co.uk

Ingredients

• ½ tsp cumin seeds
• 180 ml light olive oil or vegetable oil
• 2 large onions, sliced
• 2 red and 2 yellow peppers, stems and seeds removed, cut into 2 cm strips
• 4 tsp muscovado sugar
• 2 bay leaves
• 6 thyme sprigs, picked
• 2 tbsp chopped parsley
• 2 tbsp chopped coriander, plus extra to garnish
• 6 ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped
• ½ tsp saffron threads
• pinch of cayenne pepper
• salt and black pepper
• up to 250 ml water
• 8 free-range eggs

Procedures

1. In a very large pan, dry-roast the cumin on high heat for two minutes.
2. Add the oil and onions, sauté for five minutes, add the peppers, sugar and herbs, and cook on a high heat for five to 10 minutes, to get a nice colour.
3. Add the tomatoes, saffron, cayenne and some salt and pepper, and cook on a low heat for 15 minutes.
4. Add water as necessary, so it ends up with a pasta sauce consistency.
5. Taste and adjust the seasoning – it should be pretty potent (you can prepare the dish to this stage well in advance)
6. Remove the bay leaves and divide the mix between four deep frying pans (or one large one), each large enough to take a generous individual portion.
7. Place these on a medium heat to warm up, then make two gaps in the mix in each pan and break an egg into each gap.
8. Sprinkle with salt, cover, and cook on a very gentle heat for 10–12 minutes, until the eggs are just set.
9. Sprinkle with chopped coriander and serve.