Sometimes growth is slow, so slow you don’t notice the shifts in perspective, your slightly greater ease of being, the gradual way in which your body moves more comfortably through the world. And sometimes growth is tangible, snappy, thrilling—a new song learned on an instrument, a new word acquired in a foreign language, a new dish made in the kitchen.
This umami-rich smoky shakshuka is the perfect melding of the two: It’s easy as you can imagine anything being, but also fast, sexy, driving, full of sultry smoked paprika and oozy yolks and creamy feta and bright herbs. It’s a dish that shows you who you are in the moment you’re making it.
You have to summon the patience to caramelize onions in cumin with a smoked paprika so bright and so perfectly rich that it will make you question ever using regular paprika again. You have to steel yourself to let the egg whites cook slowly, not overdoing the heat and ruining the yolks. And finally, you have to let go enough to eat this incredible dish with your hands, to get messy, to scoop it with big hunks of olive oil grilled bread, to let the sauce run down your forearm onto the table. You have to not care how you look.
You have to forget about growth and fastness and slowness and just appreciate an intoxication of flavors so strong they will summon expletives and obsession.
And then, then maybe you can step back and say that there has been growth, that the last time you made shakshuka you went far too fast and too careless, turning the heat too high, hardening the yolks, not thinking about the brightness a fresh herb mix would bring to the whole of it. Then you can say that there has been change.
That maybe, just maybe, change could be good. Smoked paprika good. Smoky shakshuka good.
For this dish, I used Simply Organic’s incredible new smoked paprika, which is harvested in Castilla-La Mancha, Spain, and slow-smoked over local oak wood. I’m in love.
SMOKY SHAKSHUKA WITH GRILLED BREAD.
Ingredients
- 28 oz can crushed tomatoes
- 1 onion thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ¾ teaspoon sea salt
- ¾ teaspoon Simply Organic smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon cumin
- cracked pepper to taste
- 4 eggs
- ¼ cup crumbled feta cheese
- 2 tablespoons loosely packed fresh cilantro leaves roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons loosely packed fresh mint leaves roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons loosely packed fresh parsley leaves roughly chopped
grilled bread
- sliced fresh bread of your choice I used sourdough
- olive oil to brush bread
Instructions
- Place sliced onion in a large stainless steel or non-stick frying pan (not cast iron), and add 1 tablespoon olive oil, ¼ teaspoon sea salt, ¼ teaspoon cumin, and ½ teaspoon smoked paprika. Turn high to medium and stir to blend spices and thoroughly coat all onions. Stir continuously for the first 5-10 minutes, allowing onions to soften and flavors to meld. When onions become translucent, place lid on pan and allow to cook another 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, to caramelize onions.
- Add crushed tomatoes, additional ½ teaspoon sea salt, additional ¼ teaspoon smoked paprika, and additional ¼ teaspoon cumin to pan, as well as some cracked pepper, to taste. Stir to incorporate ingredients and bring to a simmer, adjusting salt and spice as you like. Allow to simmer about 10 minutes, reducing heat to medium-low when the sauce thickens.
- While the sauce simmers, brush slices of your fresh bread of choice with olive oil and grill in a cast iron skillet, flipping until toasty as you like on each side. Turn off heat and let bread sit in the skillet to stay warm while you finish the shakshuka.
- Crack eggs into the sauce and let the simmering cook the egg whites. When whites are cooked (about 10 minutes or longer depending on altitude and how done you want your yolks), remove from heat. Top with feta cheese, chopped herbs, an extra sprinkle of smoked paprika, and serve immediately, with grilled bread.
