Shakshuka
Eggs / Spring / Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi / Serves: 2

2 T olive oil
2 T pilpelchuma or harissa paste
2 t tomato purée
2 large red peppers, cut into 0.5cm dice (300g)
4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 t ground cumin
5 large, very ripe tomatoes, chopped (800g), tinned are also fine
4 medium free-range eggs plus 4 egg yolks
120g Labneh or thick yoghurt
salt

Notes

Serves 4 as a small meal.
Brown mince from 1 x Merguez sausage before adding the peppers and spices.

Source

Jerusalem: A Cookbook
Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi
Ebury Press, 2012

Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat and add the pilpelchuma
or harissa, tomato purée, peppers, garlic, cumin and 3/4 of a teaspoon of salt.
Stir and cook on a moderate heat for about 8 min to allow the peppers to soften.
Add the tomatoes, bring to a gentle simmer and cook for a further 10 min until you have
quite a thick sauce.
Taste for seasoning.

Make eight little dips in the sauce.
Gently break the eggs and carefully pour each into its own dip.
Do the same for the yolks.
Use a fork to swirl the egg whites a little bit with the sauce, taking care not to break the yolks.
Simmer gently for 8-10 minutes, until the egg whites are set but the yolks are still runny (you can cover the pan with a lid if you wish to hasten the process).
Remove from the heat, leave for a couple of minutes to settle, then spoon into individual plates and serve with the labneh or yoghurt.