DAY 14- SHAKSHUKA

It’s time for a breakfast dish; in fact I should have probably started with one (what have you been eating first thing in the morning?)

Where I’m from, a typical breakfast is made of a caffellatte (what you call a “latte” in the Anglosaxon world) and something sweet: biscuits, cakes, pastries of some sort or cereals. We’re the shame of Europe, aren’t we?

Talking to my little cousin on Easter morning, when I told her I’d eaten steak for breakfast she made a face and said: “Well, I think I win: I had colomba (a traditional Easter pastry very similar to panettone), a muffin and cookies!” So much for insulin management.

I was converted to savoury breakfasts while living in Turkey in my early twenties. At home we would often make “menemen”, a simpler version of shakshuka with less spices and the eggs scrambled into the pepper and tomato sauce. We would eat it on the balcony with many glasses of dark, freshly brewed tea and more white bread… I shouldn’t mention white bread.

This recipe has been adapted from Ottolenghi’s, whose shakshuka I enjoyed while working in his kitchen.

Ingredients (for 3):

3 Tbsp E. V. Olive oil

1 medium onion, peeled and diced

3 garlic cloves, peeled and thinly sliced

1/2 chilli pepper, stemmed, sliced in half, deseeded and finely diced

1 tsp sweet paprika

1 tsp black pepper, freshly ground

1 tsp crushed caraway seeds

1 tsp ground cumin seeds

1 kg ripe tomatoes, peeled, cored and diced

2 tbsp tomato paste

1 handful of leafy greens (kale, Swiss chard, spinach, radish greens), chopped

2 tsp honey

1 tsp cider vinegar

salt to taste

4-6 medium eggs

Heat the olive oil in a large pan. Add the onion and garlic and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes stirring frequently. Add all the spices and salt and keep stirring for another minute.

Add the tomatoes, tomato paste, honey and vinegar and cook for about 15 minutes until the sauce is thicker. Add the greens and stir for another minute.

Turn the heat off. With the back of a spoon make 4-6 indentations in the sauce (depending on how many eggs you’re using), crack an egg into each then gently drag a spatula through the whites so they mingle with the sauce. Don’t touch the yolks. Turn the heat back on and let simmer very gently for about 10 minutes (depending on how firm you like your eggs) , basting the whites every now and then.

Eat straight away.

Enjoy!