Whether you’re in search of breakfast, lunch or dinner, this Middle Eastern Harissa + Bell Pepper Shakshuka is a delicious (and healthy) answer. Made with simple ingredients and complimented with vibrant, flavourful spices, hitting your daily veggie quota has never been so easy!
Last week I had the pleasure of flying to Chicago for work, where I attended a conference all about the latest and greatest in digital marketing and customer experience. If you work in marketing too, these terms are probably ones you hear and use every day. If not, don’t worry, because this post doesn’t have anything to do with either.
Whenever I travel, I tend to be a DIY hotel room breakfast kinda gal. Even though the room service menu is always available, it always blows my mind how over-priced this food tends to be in comparison to regular groceries. Anyone else out there the same? Instead, the food geek in me makes a point of visiting the nearest Whole Foods whenever I’m staying in a city that has one. I spend some time shopping for the snacks and breakfast foods I need for the trip, and in the case of the US, a whole lot more time exploring all the fun things they have that we don’t have here. This trip was no different. It was a kid-in-a-candy-store type of scenario.
While all the meals I made in my room were lovely, by the end of the week I was ready to return to my own kitchen, get some pots and pans out, and do some proper cooking with HEAT again. I woke up on the weekend craving a savoury hot breakfast, and the recipe I’ve got for you today is the delicious result of that. (Don’t worry – no pots required here. Just 1 skillet because #simplicity.)
Shakshuka has been popping up on breakfast, brunch and lunch menus everywhere, and if you’re the breakfast-for-dinner type, good news: it’s good for that too. Any time is shakshuka time!
If this is the first time you’ve heard the word, shakshuka is a traditional North African dish, also commonly found in Middle Eastern cuisine. The gist of it is simple: eggs poached in a flavourful tomato sauce. That’s it. Sometimes simple is best, right? Shakshuka is typically served along with other sides including tabbouleh, olives, salads, hummus, pickled veg, and perhaps most handy for mopping up all that gorgeous sauce: pita bread or crusty bread.
If you’re envisioning a brunch feast, we’re on the same page, one-hundo-P. A shakshuka smorgasbord. Try saying that 10 times fast.
There are heaps of possibilities when it comes to shakshuka recipe variations, some more traditional than others. For my vegan friends out there, know that you can also swap out the eggs for chickpeas or beans and still achieve a delicious result. My mission on this occasion was to incorporate week-old bell peppers that needed to be used ASAP, but pretty much anything you’d throw in an omelette would be great here too.
I used a combo of harissa paste (another North African staple – more ways to use it here and here) and spices to flavour an otherwise very basic can of diced tomatoes. Myyyy ohhhh myyyyyyyy! You guys, this one will light up your tastebuds, and not in a so-spicy-it-blows-your-head-off way. I mean it in a party-in-your-mouth sort of way. I’m into it. So into it that I practically licked my plate clean, and I think you might too. Enjoy!
Harissa + Bell Pepper Shakshuka
- Total Time: 40 mins
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
Description
Whether you’re in search of breakfast, lunch or dinner, this Middle Eastern Harissa + Bell Pepper Shakshuka is a delicious (and healthy) answer. Made with simple ingredients and complimented with vibrant, flavourful spices, hitting your daily veggie quota has never been so easy!
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil or avocado oil
- 1 medium clove garlic, minced
- 1/2 cup diced white onion
- 1 1/2 cups diced yellow + red bell pepper*
- 1 tbsp harissa paste
- 1/2 tsp each paprika, ground cumin and turmeric
- 3 cups diced tomatoes (canned ones with their juices are totally fine)
- 2 free range organic eggs** (the more intensely-orange the yolks, the better!)
- parsley, mint and microgreens, to garnish
Instructions
- Heat the avocado oil/olive oil in a cast iron skillet for 1 minute. Add the garlic and onion, stir frying for 2 mins, or until the onion is translucent.
- Add the bell peppers*, harissa and spices. Cook until the bell peppers begin to soften, about 5 mins.
- Add the tomatoes and reduce heat to a simmer. Cook for another 15-20 mins, allowing the sauce to thicken and reduce in volume.
- Taste the sauce and adjust seasonings if you like.
- Use a spoon to make 2 indentations in the tomato sauce. Crack an egg into each indentation.**
- Cover the skillet and cook for a final 8-10 mins. The egg whites should be mostly set, but the yolks should still be nice and dippy.
- Serve garnished with the fresh herbs and microgreens if desired. Other serving ideas: tabbouleh, cucumber and tomato salad, crusty bread or pita bread.
Notes
*If you don’t have bell peppers on hand, zucchini, chopped dark leafy greens, chopped asparagus and mushrooms all make great swaps.
**Want to add more eggs per serving? No problem – just make 2 more wells in the tomato sauce. You may want to use a larger cast iron skillet in order to keep the eggs from running into each other.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 40 mins
- Category: breakfast
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Alrighty, let’s hear from you: Are you a shakshuka fan? What do you like in yours?