Shakshuka

The first time I had this breakfast dish was when I was still studying at UC Berkeley and a friend of mine took me to this little Isreali restaurant and it was served with a very yummy flaky flatbread.  In Arabic, Shakshouka means "a mixture" and precisely what this dish is about.  It is a mixture of tomatoes, shallots, garlic with some spice and a poached egg on the top.  It is very fast to whip up in the morning or lunch or even dinner.  Serve with some toast or toasted English Muffin (which is my favorite) I like to do them in individual iron skillet but you can make is in a big skillet for bigger parties and one egg for each person.

Ingredient:

Serve 1

One small shallot, chopped
One to two cloves of garlic, chopped
2 little Roma tomatoes, chopped
A pinch of salt
A pinch of sugar
Squeeze of tomato sauce
Dash of red chili flakes
Dash of Za'atar (A blend of middle eastern herbs)
Dash of Harrisa ( Tunisian red chili paste)
One egg
Chopped cilantro and parsley to taste
Shredded cheese (optional, I like it on mine but not in original dish recipe as I like cheese on everything )

Miss en place all the ingredient

Heat skillet to medium high heat, add oil

Add shallots, garlic, and a little salt, sizzle until transparent

Add chopped tomatoes cover the skillet till tomatoes are soft

Add more salt, sugar, tomato sauce, chili flakes, Za'atar, Harrisa and mix well together until it becomes a sauce

Then break the egg on to the sauce and let it poach (do not stir) and cover the skillet and check after one minute and cook the egg to your liking usually I like the egg whites to be more done and yolk still runny.

Toast your bread at this point

Before serving add herbs and cheese if you are using on top