Shakshuka
שַׁקְשׁוּקָה
Shakshuka — meaning 'all mixed up' in Maghrebi Arabic, of Berber origin — is eggs poached in spiced tomato and pepper sauce. A rare Judeo-Arabic cookbook documents it in Tunis at the turn of the 20th century. Brought to Israel by Jewish immigrants from Tunisia, Libya, Morocco, and Algeria in the 1950s, it became Israel's unofficial national breakfast. The National Library of Israel holds a 1930 Warsaw Yiddish cookbook that already includes a shakshuka recipe, showing how widely Jewish culinary knowledge traveled.
Ingredients
- •2 tablespoons olive oil
- •1 large onion, diced
- •1 red bell pepper, diced
- •1 green bell pepper, diced
- •4 cloves garlic, minced
- •1 teaspoon ground cumin
- •1 teaspoon sweet or smoked paprika
- •1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds (optional)
- •Pinch of cayenne or harissa to taste
- •800g (2 x 400g cans) crushed tomatoes
- •Salt and black pepper to taste
- •1 teaspoon sugar
- •6 large eggs
- •Fresh flat-leaf parsley or cilantro for garnish
- •Crusty bread or challah for serving
Instructions
- 1
Heat olive oil in a large deep skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring, for 6 minutes until golden.
- 2
Add the bell peppers and cook another 5 minutes until softened.
- 3
Add garlic, cumin, paprika, caraway, and cayenne. Stir for 1 minute until fragrant.
- 4
Pour in crushed tomatoes. Add salt, pepper, and sugar. Stir and bring to a gentle simmer.
- 5
Cook uncovered over medium-low heat for 12–15 minutes, stirring occasionally, until sauce thickens.
- 6
Make 6 wells in the sauce with the back of a spoon. Crack one egg into each well.
- 7
Cover with a lid and cook over low heat 5–8 minutes until whites are set but yolks remain runny.
- 8
Garnish with chopped parsley or cilantro. Serve directly from the pan with crusty bread.
Kosher notes
Naturally pareve. Adding crumbled feta makes it dairy. Serve as a pareve dish on a meat Shabbat table — eggs and tomatoes contain no meat.
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