Udi Baron, the Israeli-born food entrepreneur, first showed me this simple and delicious dish, eggs baked in a spicy paprika-laden tomato sauce.
The Israeli diet, which is probably one of the healthiest in the world, is low on saturated fats, meats and fried foods and high in vegetables, grains and legumes.
Udi is a vegan now, which means he no longer eats this dish (or does so only when he is taking a creative approach to his diet), but I think he would appreciate this flavorful but non-traditional take on a breakfast dish.
What I like about Eggs Shakshuka is that, unlike other breakfast dishes, it isn’t complicated and doesn’t require a lot of last-minute multitasking. Putting together Eggs Benedict, for example, means coordinating toasting the English muffin, griddling the Canadian bacon, whipping up the Hollandaise and poaching the egg (not to mention frying the potatoes).
Eggs Shakshuka can bake in separate individual crocks, or else done family-style in a large skillet. You simply warm the tomato sauce, put it in a oven-proof dish, crack the eggs over the sauce and bake them until they are done.
Eggs Shakshuka
Serves 4
Ingredients
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 medium yellow onion, finely diced
1 red bell pepper, finely diced
4 cloves garlic sliced
1½ cups canned tomatoes, finely diced
1 teaspoon toasted ground cumin
1 teaspoon hot paprika
few shots hot sauce
1 teaspoon sherry or red wine vinegar
4 large organic eggs
Salt
Few tablespoons chopped parsley
Directions
In a small saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Saute the onion and pepper until lightly colored and soft, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until softened but not colored, about 2 minutes. Add the tomatoes and cook until the sauce is thickened but dry, about 10 minutes.
Add the cumin, paprika and hot sauce and cook 2 minutes. Season with salt. (The sauce can be made up to a week ahead and refrigerated.)
To assemble the dish, preheat oven to 375. Warm the sauce in a sauce pan or microwave. Divide the sauce among four small shallow crocks, or place it in a medium skillet. Break the eggs into the sauce, keeping them from running into each other. Bake for about 10 minutes, until the whites are set. Sprinkle the eggs with salt and parsley. Serve immediately.
