Shakshuka
A dish of eggs gently poached in a spiced, bubbling tomato and pepper sauce, belonging to the Berber peoples of the Maghreb and still eaten daily in Tunisia. Its name comes from Maghrebi Arabic for 'mixed,' tied to the verb shakshaka, to bubble or be mixed together. The most credible documented origin traces to the Ottoman province covering present-day Tunisia, Libya, and Algeria; Ottoman Turkish had a related dish called şakşuka, vegetables in spiced tomato sauce, but that version had no eggs, so the egg-based dish as known today is a genuine Maghrebi development, not a direct Ottoman import. The first written references appear in French colonial records from Tunisia in 1894, though the dish was almost certainly common well before that.
⚠ Contains: Egg. Always check your own ingredients — this isn't a guarantee for severe allergies.
Ingredients
- 6 eggs
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1-2 red bell peppers, chopped (or a mix of red and green)
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp cumin, 1 tsp sweet paprika, 1/2 tsp caraway (ground), 1/2 tsp smoked paprika or 1 tbsp harissa paste
- 800g canned crushed tomatoes, or peeled fresh tomatoes
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- Pinch of sugar
- Cilantro or parsley, chopped
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- Crusty bread, to serve
Steps
- Heat olive oil in a wide, shallow skillet, sauté onion and bell pepper until softened and starting to caramelize at the edges, about 8-10 minutes.
- Add garlic, cumin, paprika, caraway, and harissa (if using), cook 1-2 minutes until fragrant.
- Stir in tomato paste, cook 1 minute, then add crushed tomatoes, a pinch of sugar, and salt. Simmer uncovered 20-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thick, deep red, and jammy rather than soupy.
- Taste and adjust seasoning - the base should be assertively spiced, not mild.
- Make small wells in the sauce and crack in the eggs, spacing them out.
- Cover and cook 6-8 minutes over gentle heat until egg whites are set but yolks remain runny (or finish uncovered under a broiler for a few minutes if a firmer top is preferred).
- Scatter with herbs and serve straight from the pan with crusty bread for scooping.