Fiery Shakshuka

This dish that originated in North Africa, involves lightly cooked eggs (I cooked my eggs a bit more because I prefer them well done) in a spicy tomato sauce. If you can't handle hot spices, this is not the recipe for you. I tamed the spices down so that people in my family, who are not as good with hot spices, can handle it...and still one of them ended up hiccuping uncontrollably. 

This was an amazing dish for my Sunday breakfast, when I actually have time to relax and experiment with new recipes. 

Ingredients:

2 tsp red pepper flakes

2 tsp cumin seeds

3 tsp hot paprika 

1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tbsp chia seeds

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tsp granulated sugar

1 medium onion

1 yellow bell pepper

796 ml can of diced tomatoes

796 ml can of chickpeas

1/2 cup of water

2 tbsp oil 

4 eggs

1/4 cup of cilantro

Steps:

1. Heat up a cast iron skillet on medium high heat with the oil and cook the red pepper flakes, cumin seeds, paprika and cayenne pepper for about a minute. Add the garlic and cook for another minute or until lightly browned.

2. Add the onion and the yellow pepper and cook until the onion has softened and become translucent.

3. Add the chickpeas, tomatoes and chia seeds. Then use the 1/2 cup of water to rinse out the tomato can, adding it to the mixture. 

4. Lower the heat and simmer until the chickpeas are soft (~8 minutes)

5. With a spoon, make 4 indents in the mixture and crack an egg into each one. Cook covered on low heat until eggs are cooked to your liking. 

6. Serve topped with the cilantro

Enjoy!

-A