I am obsessed with eggs, and I regularly search for new egg recipes that I can serve for breakfast. Shakshuka, a savory tomato sauce with hints of cumin, chile pepper and onions topped with eggs sounded perfect. Though I didn’t get around to making it right away, it never left my mind.  So finally when I made it for breakfast one morning it was a revelation!

There are so many versions of Shakshuka, you can’t go wrong creating your own.  I used fresh tomatoes to make the sauce however you can use good canned whole tomatoes.  Most importantly are the spices that you add to the sauce that makes it so special. Cumin and paprika are essential as is garlic, onions and mild or spicy peppers.  I sautéed the Anaheim pepper separately since I wanted them to be nicely browned before adding them to the tomato sauce.

Some recipes call for baking the eggs and others cook them on the stovetop.  I tried both and found that there’s no need to heat up your oven since the eggs cook perfectly in a covered pan on the stovetop.

Crack fresh eggs into the sauce, cover the pan and wait patiently…

We sprinkled feta cheese over the sauce on one occasion.  It was delicious and we sopped up the sauce and egg yolks with John’s country sourdough bread.

Shakshuka Breakfast

2 generous servings

Ingredients

2 1/4 pounds fresh tomatoes, peeled, seeded, coarsely chopped

1 large anaheim pepper, finely chopped

1 cup finely diced onion

1 jalapeño, finely chopped

4 medium garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons paprika

1 1/4 teaspoons cumin

1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt

olive oil

4 large eggs

a few sprigs of cilantro or Italian parsley

crumbled feta (optional)

Preparation

Puree tomatoes in a food processor keeping the sauce slightly chunky.  Set aside.

In a 10-inch cast iron skillet or other heavy skillet, sauté Anaheim peppers in a bit of olive oil over medium heat until they are nicely browned, about 10 minutes.  Remove to a plate and set aside.

In the same skillet over medium heat,  add a tablespoon of olive oil and sauté onions and jalapeño  until slightly soft, about 8 minutes.  Add sautéed Anaheim peppers, garlic, paprika and cumin and sauté another minute. Pour in tomatoes and stir in the salt.  Let sauce simmer, stirring now and then until thickened slightly, about 15 minutes.

With the back of a large spoon, make four indentations in the sauce.  Crack an egg into each indentation. Over medium-low heat, cover the pan and cook the eggs until the egg whites are set but the yolks are still runny, about 5 minutes.  Sprinkle crumbled feta over the sauce if using and garnish with cilantro or Italian parsley.  Don’t forget the bread. You’ll need it to sop up all of that delicious tomato sauce and runny eggs.

***You can easily add two more eggs to the sauce to serve three.