Vegetarian Meal #9: Shakshouka (Exotic Name but Simple and Delicious)
Exotic name but simple dish. Its simply a tomato and egg (poached) dish. Its origin is from North Africa but it it is also a popular vegetarian dish in the Middle East.
FYI: Just wanted to point out that I am not North African or Middle Eastern so my shakshouka is not the most authentic, but from what I see about shakshouka it is pretty customizable and I feel I did it justice. This is in case they are any shakshouka police out there and my eggs are over poached, sorry got distracted, still tasted great.
Supplies:
1. Tomatoes: Cento Peeled Plum Tomatoes Italian Style
(I really like this brand because the tomato isn't as acidic and it's quite delicious but of course, you can use any kind of tomato whether Fresh Or any Can variety, it will cook down to a sauce no matter what type. )
2. Eggs
3. Onion and Garlic
Can we say a Halleulah for pre-chopped garlic!!!
4. Veggies
- This part is customizable to what you have and what you like. In this meal, I used 1 Green Bell Pepper, 4 Red Pepper, Mushrooms (yes I know it is not a veggie), and Parsley (my garnish or choice). Please remember the tomato is the star of this dish so try not to bulk up on the veggies, keep it simple -
5. Oil: LouAna Canola Oil
Olive oil is preferred but any oil will do. I ran out of olive oil and I just used the oil I had on hand
6. Seasonings
Cumin, Garlic Powder, Chilli Powder, Tumeric, Ground Nutmeg, Smoked Hot Paprika, Thyme and Pink Himalayan Salt
Seasonings explained..........
1. Cumin - I felt it will go well and cumin is actually a staple seasoning for this dish
2. Garlic Powder - I love garlic
3. Chilli Powder & Smoked Hot Paprika - I feel this dish requires some heat so that will depend on what you have on how much you can handle but I feel these two seasonings not only added a little heat but a nice flavour.
4. Dried Thyme: thyme is my favourite herb seasoning because it easily makes things taste nice, it goes wherever I go unless I don't have it on hand. But of course, you can use whatever dried herb seasoning you fancy.
5. Turmeric: *optional but turmeric has a lot of health benefits so I feel obligated to throw it into my dishes every now and then plus I believed it will go well with this dish. 10 Proven Health Benefits of Turmeric
6. Nutmeg: *optional but a great option
7. Pink Himalayan Salt: any salt will do but try pink Himalayan salt if you don't have it already, its salt plus a lot of minerals. Pink Himalayan Salt Benefits
you could also take the easy route and buy a Shakshouka seasoning mix like this:
or all of this seasoning besides the salt can be substituted for Harissa ( a great north African seasoning mix)
Honourable Mention: Cheese
I forgot to add cheese. Feta cheese is commonly used but I got a low-fat ricotta cheese to add to it, I don't know how it could have turned out but without any cheese, it was still delicious.
Now let's get Shakshouking ...............................
First, go wash your hands!!!! 😛
1. Heat up a pan with Oil, best if you use a cast iron pan but I believe any will work. I actually used a wok. I spent a good amount of money on it so that wok is going to get worked.
2. Add Onions and Garlic and stir.
3. After about 2 minutes of letting the two friends get to know each other, time to spice up this relationship. I reduced the heat to about a medium. I added a few of the spices at this point. I added Garlic Powder, Cumin, and Thyme and stirred and let it cook up for about a minute.
4. I started to add the vegetables I had which were the Mushrooms (yes not a vegetable), Green Bell Pepper, and Red Pepper after each addition I let it cook up for about a minute on each addition.
5. Then I added the Tomatoes and stirred
6. Shortly right after adding the tomatoes, I added the remainder of my seasoning: Tumeric, Ground Nutmeg, Chili Powder, Smoked Hot Paprika, Salt, and I did add a bit more of the seasonings I added earlier Cumin, Garlic Powder, and Thyme. With all the seasonings, I added a little at a time and tasting along the way and adding more if need be.
Honourable mention: after stirring and tasting, I did decide to add a very little bit of Brown Sugar, although this brand of can tomato isn't as bitter and felt doesn't need it. I felt the tiny bit of brown sugar brought a nice balance.
7. After adding all the spices, I did cover it up, to let it cook for a couple of minutes, I will say 7 mins give or take. I took the last taste to make sure I liked the flavour because at this point its 90% done and the tomato sauce is the main star of this dish so got to make sure it is on point.
8. Honestly, with all the seasonings I mentioned you will be satisfied with the taste. So now I decided to add the Eggs. I added 6 eggs. When you break the eggs, break it carefully and not destroy the yolk. I broke the eggs and put it straight to the sauce but you can also break the egg into a tiny cup or bowl and transfer it into the sauce so the yolk will not break. Luckily none of my yolks broke. Egg breaker Level NINJA
After breaking the egg, I covered it so it can get to poaching. Ths part doesn't take long don't go getting distracted.
Speaking of distracted, I actually got distracted trying to clean up and put things back in place. So any egg poaching expert will be like gurl!!!! but if your eggs end up like overly poached like mine, don't worry, its still going to be yummy. Finally, I garnished it with Fresh Parsley. I was also going to garnish it with ricotta cheese but I forgot.
Fini!!!
Its best served with Bread. So serve it with a bread of your choice, or do whatever you like. It is also delicious on its own. I got a large garlic bread from the grocery store so I ate it all during the lifetime of this meal.
Hope you get to Shakshouking sometime soon!
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Snapchat: Defleur14
Email for any concerns: mmelapintv@gmail.com
-A Tout a l'Heure -
1. Heat up a pan with Oil, best if you use a cast iron pan but I believe any will work. I actually used a wok. I spent a good amount of money on it so that wok is going to get worked.
2. Add Onions and Garlic and stir.
3. After about 2 minutes of letting the two friends get to know each other, time to spice up this relationship. I reduced the heat to about a medium. I added a few of the spices at this point. I added Garlic Powder, Cumin, and Thyme and stirred and let it cook up for about a minute.
4. I started to add the vegetables I had which were the Mushrooms (yes not a vegetable), Green Bell Pepper, and Red Pepper after each addition I let it cook up for about a minute on each addition.
5. Then I added the Tomatoes and stirred
6. Shortly right after adding the tomatoes, I added the remainder of my seasoning: Tumeric, Ground Nutmeg, Chili Powder, Smoked Hot Paprika, Salt, and I did add a bit more of the seasonings I added earlier Cumin, Garlic Powder, and Thyme. With all the seasonings, I added a little at a time and tasting along the way and adding more if need be.
Honourable mention: after stirring and tasting, I did decide to add a very little bit of Brown Sugar, although this brand of can tomato isn't as bitter and felt doesn't need it. I felt the tiny bit of brown sugar brought a nice balance.
7. After adding all the spices, I did cover it up, to let it cook for a couple of minutes, I will say 7 mins give or take. I took the last taste to make sure I liked the flavour because at this point its 90% done and the tomato sauce is the main star of this dish so got to make sure it is on point.
8. Honestly, with all the seasonings I mentioned you will be satisfied with the taste. So now I decided to add the Eggs. I added 6 eggs. When you break the eggs, break it carefully and not destroy the yolk. I broke the eggs and put it straight to the sauce but you can also break the egg into a tiny cup or bowl and transfer it into the sauce so the yolk will not break. Luckily none of my yolks broke. Egg breaker Level NINJA
After breaking the egg, I covered it so it can get to poaching. Ths part doesn't take long don't go getting distracted.
Speaking of distracted, I actually got distracted trying to clean up and put things back in place. So any egg poaching expert will be like gurl!!!! but if your eggs end up like overly poached like mine, don't worry, its still going to be yummy. Finally, I garnished it with Fresh Parsley. I was also going to garnish it with ricotta cheese but I forgot.
Fini!!!
Its best served with Bread. So serve it with a bread of your choice, or do whatever you like. It is also delicious on its own. I got a large garlic bread from the grocery store so I ate it all during the lifetime of this meal.
Hope you get to Shakshouking sometime soon!
CLICK SUBSCRIBE so you get an email whenever I upload a blog post
THANK YOU FOR YOUR VISIT💓
PlantainsYum Instagram
My Personal Instagram
My Youtube Channel
Snapchat: Defleur14
Email for any concerns: mmelapintv@gmail.com
-A Tout a l'Heure -
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