Eggs Poached in Tomato (Shakshuka)
Eggs Poached in Tomato (Shakshuka) is a poached egg recipe with tomatoes, veggies, spices and orange! Top with almonds, cheese, and parsley.
Friends, enjoy this simple breakfast or brunch recipe today, Eggs Poached in Tomato (Shakshuka). It’s actually a delicious vegetarian dinner, too! I’m also sharing a powerful message on “babies and cell phones.” Grab this recipe and keep reading!
Eggs Poached in Tomato (Shakshuka)
You may have seen the recipe in my new book, Big Boards for Families (so good), but here’s another version today! This is one of my friend Joan’s favorite recipes to serve her family for dinner.
But first, what is Shakshuka?
Shakshuka is a traditional shakshuka recipe is basically eggs poached in a green pepper mixture with onions, and spices popular across the Middle East and North Africa.
What ingredients are in Shakshua?
- Whole, peeled tomatoes (we love Delallo brand tomatoes)
- Eggs
- Orange
- White mushrooms
- Garlic powder + cumin + cayenne
- Greek yogurt
- Dark greens, like spinach
- Fresh basil + fresh parsley
- Olive oil
- A handful of sliced almonds
- Feta cheese
- Naan or pita bread
What goes well with Shakshuka?
It is traditionally served as breakfast with warm pita bread or challah. But we love it for dinner with a couple more sides for a light vegetarian meal.
You can serve these salads: Fresh Israeli Quinoa Chopped Salad, Cucumber and Chickpea Salad, or Mint Lemon Hummus.
Not only are these poached eggs heaty and filling, but so flavorful because of all the herbs and acids involved.
My favorite flavors come from the orange zest and basil.
You can order fresh naan to get the full flavor experience, but Trader Joe’s has some delicious options as well.
How to make Shakshuka
- Using a spoon, create an indent in sauce (or water) for eggs—spread the indents out evenly.
- Crack an egg into each indent and cover the skillet. Cook about about 5 minutes, or until eggs are set (I prefer a soft, runny yolk, but if you don’t, increase the time the eggs poach).
- With a spoon, baste the eggs with tomato sauce, then sprinkle with fresh parsley, feta cheese, and shaved almonds.
- Finish with a sprinkle of orange zest, and serve hot with fresh pita!
A little off track from food here today, I’ve been a little disturbed by something my husband wrote on Facebook recently. It’s powerful, so I wanted to share it here today.
Cell phones and babies
I heard something ominous this week at an educator’s conference, how a growing list of childhood disorders are the result of parents who no longer stare into their baby’s faces the way we used to. A baby’s face is humanity’s television, or it used to be. Because babies just don’t look at you. They hunger for your face. They need it so much they caress it. They need it to develop emotions, I heard, and the ability to discern emotions in others.
What has brought our babies such newfound need? Parents are staring at their cellphones, spellbound, more than gazing at their children.
We are starving babies from what they need, like breast milk. From our faces, and with them love and affection. From eye-time, where humanity travels from older eyes to new ones like warm beams, forming and blessing them. We grow children through our faces, it turns out, like sun unto seed.
We’re giving this gift to glowing rectangles instead.
Smart phones. Our new cigarettes. Dangerous for us and now our babies. We’re being hoodwinked, used somehow.
This was a tipping point for me, toward a question I don’t want to answer. Are we getting better as a people? I fear we’re worsening—less civil, cold, self-interested, heartless and now, eyeless, staring slack-jawed into glowing screens that will never love us back, while next to them, cooing, is the universe herself in two hungry marbles. –Paul Coughlin
We measure our days
It’s sad that we live in a society where someone writes something on social media about slowing down, and others chime in about one good deed they did that day. Like … I put away my phone and played a game with my child. Or, I did this random act of kindness for this person, and helped them.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s good to do these things, but to feel we need a pat on the back for something we should be doing all along, consistently, it just troubles my soul.
Do we really need to remind ourselves every day to put our phones down, to connect with others, that our success is measured by social media numbers or our to-do list? I think not.
Look into your loved ones’ faces!
- Try a new recipe. Eggs Poached in Tomato (Shakshuka) is super easy and yummy!)
- Take a book with you when you run errands, and sit in the warm car (sunshine!!) and read.
- Invite someone to dinner. [Try one of my new recipes in Big Boards for Families]
- Start reading a new book! I’m currently reading The Art of Gathering: How We Meet and Why It Matters. So good – it’s our human-to-human links that make the most meaningful moments of our lives.
- Listen to music. My kids are super musical, but I can’t get enough violin, so I turn on a Joshua Bell Pandora station all the time.
Look into your loved ones’ faces!
By all means, put the phone down if you are a young mama. Reading what Paul wrote isn’t a scare tactic, it’s reality.
Thanks for listening, Friends! Happy Sunday!
Here’s an instant pot version to try: Fall inspired Instant Pot Shakshuka [Rachel Cooks].
Get the Recipe:
Eggs Poached in Tomato (Shakshuka)
Ingredients
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 4 cups white mushrooms, thinly sliced
- 1 28 oz can of whole peeled tomatoes, we buy Delallo brand
- ½ orange, juiced and zested
- 1 Tbsp garlic powder
- 1 Tbsp cumin
- ¼ tsp cayenne, or add more if you like more heat
- Salt and pepper
- 2 handfuls dark greens, like spinach
- ½ cup Greek yogurt
- 1 bunch of basil, roughly chopped
- 5-6 eggs
- ½ cup chopped parsley
- ⅓ cup feta cheese
- A handful of sliced almonds
- Orange zest
- Naan or pita bread
Instructions
- In a large skillet, coat the bottom with olive oil on medium-high heat. When hot, add mushrooms; sauté until they release their liquid, and brown, about 10 minutes.
- Next, add in tomatoes, and reduce heat to medium-low. Add in spices, orange juice, and salt and pepper to taste. Allow tomatoes to simmer for 20-25 minutes. When the sauce has reduced, mix in spinach, yogurt, and fresh basil—about 3 minutes.
- Using a spoon, create an indent in sauce for eggs—spread the indents out evenly. Crack an egg into each indent and cover the skillet. Cook about 5 minutes, or until eggs are set (I prefer a soft runny yolk, but if you don’t, increase the time the eggs poach).
- Using a spoon, baste the eggs with tomato sauce, then sprinkle with fresh parsley, feta cheese, and shaved almonds. Finish with a sprinkle of orange zest and serve hot with naan or fresh pita!
Notes
Hello and welcome to my home and table!
I’m Sandy—lover of food, family, cooking, THE BIG BOARD, travel, and bringing people together. Through great recipes and connection around the table, we become better, stronger, and more courageous people. Feasting on Life is real, and every time we do it, we grow a little more. Read more...
I love Shaksshuka. I just tried making some the other day but didn’t know I had to cover it, lol! This explains so much. I love using different veggies in there that are in season to jazz it up a bit. Perfect vegan/vegetarian recipe. I appreciate the pictures and your instructions. Thank you for sharing this lovely recipe. Shalom
I hear you when you talk about cell phones!we see it every day no contact unless they have phone along 2 minutes before checking phone,I only use mine in an emergency,people tell me my purse is ringing lol. Thanks for recipes and all.
I love this! For the last couple of years I e made a version of Shakshuka sauce with my garden tomatoes rather than the regular pasta sauce I usually make. It’s such an easy “go to” dinner! Just open a jar, add some fresh ingredients and some eggs from “the girls” and dinner is on the table! I can’t wait to try your version Sandy! Yum!