When we are in the mood to experiment with a new dish we often try combinations of recipes from our cookbooks. For this dish we wanted to do a spin on the Middle Eastern dish shakshuka (meaning "a mixture") - eggs poached in a tomato-onion sauce. For our take on it, we were looking to add more veggies to make it a heartier main dish and after seeing a recipe in Cooks Illustrated for eggs florentine decided to add spinach.
While any tomato sauce would work in this dish, we used some sauce that we made over the summer with fresh cherry tomatoes and basil. These bright flavors paired perfectly with smoky cumin and smoked paprika, caramelized onions and garlic, and plenty of spinach. After simmering the tomato sauce for a while to let all the flavors meld, we carefully cracked eggs into the sauce and gently simmered for a few minutes until the eggs were just soft boiled (set whites and just set yokes).
This dish is especially simple because you probably have all of the ingredients on hand and can put it together in no time (you can even start with tomato sauce made for a pasta night and just add the spices). Served with crusty bread to sop up all of the sauce this is an easy and delicious meal for any night of the week!
Shakshuka
1tbs olive oil
1 onion, sliced
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 tsp cumin, or to taste
2 tsp smoked paprika, or to taste
10 oz frozen spinach, thawed
4 cups of tomato sauce or canned tomatoes (any kind thats good)
4 eggs
Salt and pepper to taste
Heat oil in heavy, wide pot over medium heat and add onions. Saute until golden brown, then add garlic and spices. Continue cooking, stirring often, until very fragrant, about 2 minutes. Add thawed spinach and cook for 10 minutes, until most of the liquid has evaporated. Add tomato sauce and simmer for 10 minutes (or longer) to allow flavors to combine.
Just before serving, create 4 wells in the sauce and carefully crack 1 egg into each well. Put a lid on the pot and simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, depending on how well done you want the eggs.
Ladle whole eggs and plenty of sauce into bowls and serve immediately with crusty bread.
Serves 2.
