Recipe Of The Week: Middle-Eastern Spicy Shakshuka

This delicious middle-eastern dish is traditionally served at breakfast but it’s hearty enough to serve as a brunch or light meal; it’s the perfect sharing meal. With tomatoes, peppers and onion as a nutritious vegetable base and the eggs providing first class protein, it’s a complete “one-pot” meal!

To make this delicious Shakshuka, you’ll need…

• 4-6 Eggs, preferably organic
• 2 large Onions, finely sliced
• 4 cloves Garlic
• 1 large Sweet Red Pepper, finely sliced
• 4 large Tomatoes, finely chopped or 1 400g tin plum tomatoes
• 1 tsp Smoked Paprika
• Pinch Cayenne Pepper (optional)
• Olive Oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 small bunch flat leaf parsley – finely chopped for garnish

Here’s how…

Heat the oil in a large skillet or frying pan over a moderate heat and add the onions and garlic; cook for approximately 5 minutes, allowing them to “sweat” until they are soft, stirring to ensure it doesn’t stick or brown. Add the peppers and the paprika and cayenne (if using) and cook for a further minute before. Add the tomatoes, reduce heat and allow to gently simmer for approximately 10 mins, until the sauce has thickened slightly.

Gently crack the eggs on top of the tomato mixture around the pan.

Shakshuka TIPS:

• After 2 mins, cover the frying pan to allow the eggs to cook thoroughly on top yet keeping the yolk soft and runny
• If you’re worried about cracking the egg, break it into a small cup or ramekin first and then gentle lower it onto the tomato mixture

Sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve your shakshuka warm, straight from the pan. It’s a great sharing dish!

Serving Suggestions:

• Serve with chunky bread to mop up all the flavours!
• Serve with simple green salad for a light meal.

Nutritional Nugget

With its vibrant colour, vegetable ingredients and middle eastern origin, Shakshuka is a classic mediterranean dish and epitomises what makes this diet one of the healthiest in the world. CLICK HERE to find out more about the Mediterranean diet and what it actually means?

This diet has been found in a number of geographical areas known as the Blue Zones; regions in the world where people live the longest. These areas have been well researched and characterised. For more on these fascinating regions, CLICK HERE

May Simpkin is a BANT registered Nutritional Therapist with a Masters Science degree in Personalised Nutrition. She is an experienced clinician and Head of Wellbeing at Grace Belgravia, London., as well as Chair of the Continual Professional Committee at BANT, the British Association for Applied Nutrition and Nutritional Therapy . She is also registered with IFM, The Institute for Functional Medicine and a member of the RSM, The Royal Society of Medicine.

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