Shakshouka Makes Simple Food Look Amazing

The name may make you want to shout "gesundheit!", but Shakshouka is not an onomatopoeia for a sneeze. It's a Mediterranean dish with North African roots, made by poaching eggs in a tomato and pepper sauce. While Id eat Shakshouka for any meal, I cant think of a better way to start the day than to split open the soft poached eggs with a fork and dredging a piece of bread through the rich golden yolk, and tangy tomato sauce. Because its such a simple dish, sun-ripened fresh tomatoes taste best, but if you cant find good tomatoes, or are in a rush, an 800 gram (28 ounce) can of stewed tomatoes will work fine. Since canned tomatoes have already been cooked down, you dont need quite as much as when you start with fresh tomatoes, and the sauce will be done faster. If you do opt for fresh tomatoes, Id recommend peeling them first. You can do this by boiling a large pot of water, scoring a shallow x into the bottom of the tomatoes, and plunging them into the boiling water for about 30 seconds. Then transfer the tomatoes to a bowl of cold water to stop the cooking. The skins should easily peel away at this point. I dont remove the seeds from my tomatoes because the gelatinous membrane around each seed contains a lot of flavor that would be lost if you remove the seeds. Since the sauce can be made ahead of time, you can double or triple the recipe for the sauce and store it either in the fridge or the freezer. Then, just some of the sauce and poach your eggs in it.

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Marc Matsumoto is a culinary consultant and recipe repairman who shares his passion for good food through his website norecipes.com. For Marc, food is a life long journey of exploration, discovery and experimentation and he shares his escapades through his blog in the hopes that he inspires others to find their own culinary adventures. Marcs been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and USA Today, and has made multiple appearances on NPR and the Food Network.