Shakshuka

This is rapidly becoming one of my favourite dishes. On its own, reduced to its bare essentials it's a stew like mix of tomatoes, peppers, onions and herbs. That alone would make it epic, especially at the height of tomato season (not long now) where a solitary tomato, fresh off the vine, is an explosion of flavour. It is jam packed full of vegetables (well technically fruit) and served alongside some good bread makes it a very filling and healthy dish to start your day or finish it which ever you prefer.
What I like about this dish though is its adaptability. It is infinitely changeable depending on your mood, whims or contents of your fridge. You could vary the herbs or increase your favourite. Add small chunks of salty feta, which I did today in this version and it was excellent. You could fry in some chorizo or throw in a pinch of smoked paprika, the list is endless.

I am submitting this to two excellent blogger challenges, Herbs on Saturday by Karen at the beautiful Lavender and Lovage which is hosted, this month by Vanesther at banger mash chat  and Breakfast club from Fuss Free Helen, this month hosted by Janice at the lovely Farmersgirl Kitchen with the theme of cooked breakfast.

This version is based on Ottolenghi's recipe in Plenty and the Guardian Website. I had a version of this at his superb Islington deli/restaurant where it was served with grilled foccacia and Labneh which is a soft cheese with a similar flavour to sour cream.

Shakshuka (feeds 3 - 4)
Ingredients
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1 red and 1 yellow pepper
1 white and 1 red onion
4 - 5 tomatoes
2 tsp brown sugar
2 tbsp chopped coriander
2 tbsp thyme sprigs
1 bay leaf
pinch of cayenne
Salt and Pepper
1 egg per person
chunks of feta

Method
Dry fry the cumin seeds over a high heat for a minute or so. add a couple of tbsp of oil and ad the onions.
Fry for 5 minutes until soft then add the peppers, herbs and sugar and cook until golden and soft.
Add the tomatoes, cayenne and season well.
Cook gently for 15 minutes until the tomatoes break down and a consistency of a pasta sauce is formed, you may need to add a splash of water.
Now either in one large frying pan, where everybody can dive in, or in separate little frying pans, make a little gap for each egg and crack in enough eggs for the amount of people you are serving.
Dot with chunks of feta and either oven bake for 10 minutes, until the egg is cooked or place on the hob and bubble through until the eggs are cooked.
Serve with plenty of bread to mop up the juices

Enjoy.