Shakshuka is a traditional Middle East dish made of eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes, olive oil, peppers, onion and garlic, and commonly spiced with cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper and nutmeg. Also very popular in keto community, as another way of serving eggs.

There’s many variations about this dish, as it’s very versatile. Actually it’s a great “nothing wasted” meal, because you can add whatever is left in your fridge. Your base are eggs, tomatoes and peppers, and it might seem like something “meh”, but it’s actually delicious. It was on my keto recipes list for ages, before I finally tried to make it. Just because I thought, it’s not going to be tasty. And usually everyone is surprised how good is it. It’s also great idea for weekend breakfast or lunch. Another good thing it’s very easy and quick to make, an you only need one skillet to make it (or two, if you eat  many eggs as we do).

I hope I aroused your interest enough 🙂

For my today’s shakshuka I chose something different than passata or chopped tomatoes. I had some leftovers of something called lyutenitsa (or lutenica). It’s a kind of vegetable appetizer, or I would say a very thick sauce, made with tomatoes, roasted red peppers, aubergine, carrots and spices. And it’s the best tomato-ish sauce I’ve ever eat. If I’m not wrong it comes from Boulgaria, but also known in Serbia and Macedonia. There is also pinjur, kylopolou or ajvar. That’s very similar kind of sauces, based on tomatoes and roasted peppers and aubergine. But you can use tomato passata (I like bottled ones) or chopped tomatoes, will be also yummy. If you use ready made sauce it might me higher in carbs, so for those who just started with keto diet I recommend adding passata or chopped tomatoes.

I’ve made my shakshuka all veggie today, using yellow and orange peppers, onions and bunch of baby spinach. I poached 4 eggs into my skillet, and fried another 3 separately, as we eat quite a lot of eggs, and I wouldn’t manage to squeeze them all in. So that’s what you can see on the photos. Usually you poach the egg into shakshuka and simmer until it sets. But if you hate unset egg white (which can happen if you pouch a lot of eggs to your shakshuka), you can fry them separately and then move to the skillet. You can also cover the skillet with a lid, so it will set quicker, but that usually makes that egg yolks sets as well, which I don’t like. So figure out which way will be the best for you 🙂

And we cannot forget about spices, if you’ve never tried cumin seeds, I really recommend you to try. They are so aromatic, and give one of a kind flavour to this dish. Also garlic (I love garlic, but you can skip if you don’t like it) and you can finish your shakshuka with some chilli flakes, if you like it spicy, or some parsley (coriander will be great as well) if you like more mild option.

OK, lets go now to the recipe.

one skillet veggie shakshuka

INGREDIENTS (for 2 quite large portions)

• 7 eggs (adjust to your needs)
• 2 bell peppers (I used yellow and orange, take whichever you like)
• 2 medium brown onions
• 2-3 handfuls baby spinach
• leftovers of lyutenitsa / can of chopped tomatoes / 350ml organic passata
• 3 tbsp clarified buter / olive oil / coconut oil
• 2 chopped garlic cloves
• 1 tsp cumin seeds
• natural rock salt to taste
• good pinch of coarse pepper
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• pinch of nutmeg
• for finish: chilli flakes, fresh or dried coriander or parsley

DIRECTIONS

Chop the onions, slice bell peppers in stripes (you can also chop them, doesn’t really matter).

Melt butter on a large skillet and fry the onions first. When it starts to get golden add peppers and sprinkle with salt, so they will start to get tender. Fry together for about 5 minutes, then add all the spices. Stir to combine and add chopped tomatoes or passata (lyutenitsa in my case), add a bit more salt (if you use ready made sauce, there’s no need to add more salt because it’s usually salty), stir again and let it simmer for about 3-4 minutes. Next add spinach and stir until it gets soften.

And finally eggs. Using a spoon make a holes in your shakshuka and poach the egg to each hole. Sprinkle the eggs with some more salt. Simmer until the egg white will be set. You can cover the pan with lid to make it faster, but it’s very likely that egg yolks will set as well. If you don’t mind, put the lid on.

Finish with chilli flakes, parsley or coriander, and serve.