Breakfast Low Calorie Main Dish Vegetarian

Shakshuka

September 16, 2013

So what the heck is Shakshuka, you ask? It’s an Israeli dish of eggs cooked in a tomato sauce or maybe you’ve heard of Eggs in Purgatory. You all know how much I cannot resist a meal topped with a delicious runny egg, so when I saw this in my latest issue of Cooking Light, I had to make it the very next day. I was mostly intrigued because at 305 calories per serving, it included 1/2 cup of rice, 1 cup of the sauce, 1 egg, and some feta. That’s quite a lot of food!

Shakshuka by So, How's It Taste? www.leah-claire.com

So, how’s it taste?

I love the idea of eggs in a tomato sauce filled with peppers and onions. Especially since I’ve gotten over my hatred of bell peppers. The peppers cooking with the onion and garlic made my mouth water. Add the marinara sauce and I couldn’t wait to dig in! I had never heard of Shakshuka before, so I wasn’t sure how close to the real thing this Cooking Light version was. While I enjoyed this dish, it has a lot of room for improvement. I think with some adjustments this could be a really killer brunch item!

Shakshuka with rice by So, How's It Taste? www.leah-claire.com

There are way, way too many peppers and onions. Two cups each is overkill with a dish like this and they should be chopped, not sliced. It was really hard to eat with so many slices of veggies. I was super excited about how much food you get for a serving, but one cup of the sauce was too much. I think I ended up eating only 1/2 cup because the rice was getting lost and so was my precious runny egg. I want to taste all the elements. I don’t think the rice is normally part of Shakshuka and when I did a little Googling, I found Smitten Kitchen has made this dish, too. She suggests serving it with pita, which makes way more sense to me. I’d much rather dip pita, or naan, or crusty bread into this. Can you imagine taking your bread, swirling that lovely yolk around the tomato sauce, and getting a big bite! Hello! That’s how it should be eaten. I can’t wait to try this again with the improvements. This is what I love about being in the kitchen…always learning something new.

Shakshuka

Cooking Light, October 2013
makes 4 servings (1/2 cup rice, 1 cup sauce, 1 egg, 1 1/2 tsp. feta)
per serving: 305 calories, 11.3g fat, 11.9g protein, 5.2g fiber, 39.5g carbs

Ingredients:

1 tbsp. olive oil
1 cup (1/4-inch-wide) strips red bell pepper*
1 cup (1/4-inch-wide) strips green bell pepper*
2 cups (1/4-inch-thick) vertically sliced onion*
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 cups lower-sodium marinara sauce
1 tsp. smoked paprika
4 large eggs
2 cups cooked brown rice*
1/4 cup fresh baby basil leaves
2 tbsp. crumbled feta cheese

*Note: I recommend reducing the bell pepper to 1 cup total and the onion to no more than 1 cup. I'd also chop them instead of slicing. I'd also recommend serving this with pita or crusty bread instead of the rice.

Directions:

1. Heat a 10-inch nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add bell peppers, onion, and salt; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add garlic; cook 30 seconds. Stir in marinara sauce and paprika. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, cover, and simmer 5 minutes.

2. Form 4 (2-inch) indentations in sauce, using the back of a spoon. Crack eggs, 1 at a time, into a small custard cup, and gently slip into each indentation. Cover and cook 6 minutes or until eggs are done.

3. Divide rice evenly among 4 shallow bowls. Spoon egg mixture evenly over rice, and sprinkle with basil and cheese.

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  • alexandra @ sweet betweens [blog] September 16, 2013 at 9:26 am

    oh, yum! I’ve made shakshuka before but never with rice! Intrigued. I might like that as a dinner option. For breakfast I usually just sauté up some onions + garlic in butter, toss in leftover marinara, make a nest for the egg[s] and cover until cooked through! one of my favorite savory breakfast meals. so happy you’ve discovered it, too!

    • Leah Short September 16, 2013 at 10:59 am

      I can’t believe I had never heard of it! I’m so going to try it with bread. The rice was good, but I like the idea of it as a dipping sauce better. 😉

  • Annakate September 16, 2013 at 10:37 am

    Love this! I did a recipe like this earlier this year, and have seen this dish on lots of blogs. Isn’t it funny how recipes get trendy and make the rounds?! Did you go to the event yesterday? I couldn’t make it! My baby shower ran long… miss you guys.

    • Leah Short September 16, 2013 at 11:01 am

      Ha ha, that is pure accident if I’m on trend! 😉 I missed the event yesterday. Had a last minute change of plans and couldn’t make it. We need to do another meetup soon or just go out for drinks! I want to hear how the new job is going!

  • Lesley Eats September 16, 2013 at 2:14 pm

    Ooh, this looks really good. Though I’d skip the green bell pepper altogether. 😀

  • Sues September 16, 2013 at 3:32 pm

    This is such an ideal dinner for me (Breakfast/brunch, too!)… And yes, pita would be awesome with it 🙂

  • Julie @ Table for Two September 16, 2013 at 7:13 pm

    Gorgeous comfort food!

  • angela@spinachtiger September 17, 2013 at 8:38 am

    I love runny eggs and eggs in tomato sauce too. I would eat this for dinner.

  • Kelly September 18, 2013 at 2:13 pm

    Ooh this sounds really yummy! And fairly easy to make!!

  • Renee V. September 26, 2013 at 1:28 pm

    glad you made a yummy egg dish, just started to transition over to eating a paleo diet and looking for more breakfasts. looking forward to trying this (except of cauli rice)