Food52
At breakfast in Morocco, I was drawn to row after row of lipstick-red mini tagines. I lifted the lid on one and to my delight saw eggs that looked like they had been basted, nesting in a bed of luscious tomato sauce. After the first bite, I decided that I had to make these. I didn’t know what they were called but when I described them to a foodie friend, she said, “Ah, you’re talking about ‘shakshuka’.” Usually when attempting something new, I consult lots of recipes. This time, I consulted nothing. I simply remembered the taste of the sauce and proceeded. The sauce has very few ingredients but several steps. It combines canned diced tomatoes, fresh garlic, double strength tomato paste and of course harissa. Everything is simmered in a large saucepan, cooled and then put in a blender or Vitamix to puree. It is then reheated, reduced slightly, thickened and kept on the stove until ready to combine with eggs. Enough sauce is put in a lidded 3-quart flat saucepan and the eggs are carefully broken directly into the sauce. The lid is replaced and the eggs allowed to cook. It’s served right from the pan. This makes enough sauce to make several batches, at least three batches with 4 eggs in each pan. This is the only dish we ran out of at my New Year’s Day Brunch. Enough said.
