Yotam Ottolenghi's Shakshuka Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

What's the difference between shakshuka and Menemen? ›

Shakshuka typically has a deeper, more intricate flavor from the blend of spices used, with whole, runny eggs that mix into the sauce. Menemen, in contrast, showcases the freshness of its primary ingredients, with less emphasis on spices.

The best way to serve a shakshuka is to make it the centerpiece of the meal, then create a multitude of small plates to serve along. They usually involve some bread, simple vegetable salads, and spreads.

Serve Shakshuka in the skillet or pan it was cooked in and enjoy it directly from the dish with bread or pita on the side for dipping. What is this? While you certainly can use a fork or spoon, traditional serving uses bread or pita as a serving utensil.

Even though many people today associate shakshuka with Israel, it actually originated in North Africa and the Ottoman Empire: the only reason shakshuka is eaten in Israel is because North African Jewish immigrants brought it there.

Shakshuka is a staple of Tunisian, Libyan, Algerian, and Moroccan cuisines traditionally served up in a cast iron pan with bread to mop up the sauce (most important). It is also popular in Israel, where it was introduced by Tunisian Jews. These Sephardic Jews came from Spain, Portugal and the Middle East.

Connoisseurs insist shakshuka should be eaten from the pan. Why is hard to discern, and, obviously, it's impractical if serving a group. Instead, use bowls with curved sides – rather than diagonally sloping – to facilitate an easy circular sweep with the bread.

Serve with thick-cut slices of crusty bread that have been rubbed with a garlic clove, drizzled with olive oil, and sprinkled with flaky sea salt and freshly cracked pepper. What is this? A deeply flavorful back pocket shakshuka recipe that makes the most of vibrant spring eggs and a host of pantry staples.

In Jewish culture, a large batch of tomato stew is made for the Sabbath dinner and the leftovers used the following morning to make a breakfast shakshouka with eggs.

After breaking the eggs into the sauce, gently spoon some of the sauce over just the whites. This helps the whites cook faster so they set before the yolks overcook. Cover and rotate. Covering the skillet allows the eggs to steam-cook, which moves things along.

Can you reheat shakshuka? You certainly can! Some even say it tastes better the next day, or even the day after that when the spices in the homemade shakshuka tomato sauce have had time to infuse and develop further. As it is an egg dish, we recommend reheating it on the stovetop rather than in the microwave.

How do you know when shakshuka is done? ›

Sprinkle a little salt and pepper over the eggs. Carefully transfer the skillet to the oven (it's heavy) and bake for 8 to 12 minutes, checking often once you reach 8 minutes. They're done when the egg whites are an opaque white and the yolks have risen a bit but are still soft.

A side salad of cucumbers, tomatoes, lemon juice, and oil (non-olive) with salt/ pepper/ sumac might be good to contrast with the shakshuka. Turkish breakfast often has a special sausage on the side.

Sephardic Jews from Libya and Tunisia brought shakshuka to the newly created state of Israel in the 1950s and 1960s but it wasn't until the 1990s that the dish became a mainstay of menus there. Much of its current popularity in Israel is due to Bino Gabso, the son of Jewish emigrés from Tripoli.

Eat Shakshuka on its own or serve it with some low carb sides such as sauteed or oven roasted vegetables such as Oven Roasted Moroccan Cauliflower, or low carb bread. To serve as a main meal, try serving it with a simple salad and some Cauliflower Cous Cous.

Turkish menemen is very similar to shakshuka, but there's a lesser-known Turkish eggs recipe that's incredibly delicious too. This, called cilbir, involves poaching eggs, then laying them on a swirl of garlic-infused yoghurt, topping with a nutty chilli butter and fresh dill fronds.

Menemen is a traditional Turkish breakfast dish. An easy way to think of it is as Turkish scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and green peppers.

Menemen is basically scrambled eggs with tomatoes, peppers and, sometimes, onions. The seasoning is quite simple and often includes a dash of dried herbs (I used oregano) and a touch of heat from some chili flakes.

Shakshuka is a simple dish made of gently poached eggs in a delicious chunky tomato and bell pepper sauce. Said to have originated in Tunisia, this breakfast recipe is popular in many parts of North Africa and the Middle East. It is so satisfying, you can serve it for breakfast, lunch, or dinner.