Traditional shakshuka: eggs poached in the tomato, bell pepper and cumin sauce of Israel and the Maghreb

Shakshuka means mixture in Maghrebi Arabic, and the dish comes from Tunisia and Libya, where eggs cooked in tomato sauce are everyday food. It reached Israel with North African Jews in the 1950s and became the national breakfast, served at every kibbutz table and every Tel Aviv café, in the pan it was made in.

The secret is the sauce: red bell pepper and onion sautéed until soft, garlic, cumin, sweet paprika and a pinch of chili, and tomatoes cooked until thick. Only then do the eggs go in, into wells made with a spoon, and cook covered for a few minutes, until the whites turn white and the yolks stay runny, to be pierced and mixed into the sauce with pieces of bread.

It is a one-pan, half-hour dish that works as breakfast, lunch or dinner, and takes feta, spinach, eggplant or merguez on top. With pita, challah or any crusty bread, it is a complete meal.

Recipe card

• Origin: Maghreb and Israel
• Category: Eggs in sauce, breakfast or main course
• Difficulty: Easy
• Preparation time: 15 minutes
• Cooking time: 35 minutes
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 2 red bell peppers in small cubes
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes or 1 teaspoon harissa
• 800 g ripe tomatoes, chopped (or 2 cans of peeled tomatoes)
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 6 eggs
• Salt and black pepper to taste
• Chopped parsley and cilantro
• 100 g crumbled feta (optional)
• Pita or challah to serve

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a wide frying pan with a lid and sauté the onion and bell pepper on medium for 10 minutes, until very soft.
2. Add the garlic, cumin, paprika and chili and sauté for 1 minute.
3. Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, sugar, salt and pepper and cook on medium-low for 15 minutes, until it thickens into a thick sauce.
4. Make 6 wells in the sauce with the back of a spoon and crack an egg into each.
5. Season the eggs with salt, cover and cook on low for 6 to 8 minutes, until the whites set and the yolks stay runny.
6. Sprinkle the parsley, cilantro and feta and bring the pan to the table with the bread.

Tips and variations

• Thin sauce makes the egg run and spread: cook until thick before cracking the eggs.
• For runny yolks, take off the heat when the whites still look slightly translucent on top; the residual heat finishes them.
• Green shakshuka: spinach, chard and herbs instead of tomato.
• With cubes of roasted eggplant in the sauce it is the Jerusalem version.
• Merguez or chorizo fried at the start gives a meat version.
• The sauce can be made the day before and kept for 4 days; when ready, heat and add the eggs.
• Serve in the pan itself, with bread for everyone to dip.

Shakshuka is the breakfast that turns into lunch and the dinner of anyone who does not want to wash many dishes. Tomato, pepper, egg and bread, and Tel Aviv is served.