Whether you eat this traditional Mediterranean breakfast dish early in the morning, as lunch or as a breakfast for dinner, it is simple to make and delicious at any time of day. This Easy Shakshuka with Spinach recipe for two is foolproof, vegetarian and gluten free.
As mentioned, eating Shakshuka; onion and bell pepper on an empty stomach as breakfast, may not be for everybody. Totally understandable, that’s why you have lunch and dinner as alternatives. Serve it on toast, with a naan or any other type of bread. Serve it with pasta, rice, farro, quinoa or any other grain. This recipe is a breakfast for two, so if you want it as a slightly bigger meal, multiply it.
Ingredients of this easy Shakshuka
- Onion – any type you like, red, yellow, sweet
- Red and green bell pepper – add some spice by adding hot peppers
- Tomatoes, whole or crushed or diced, canned or fresh
- Spinach
- Parsley and cilantro
- Eggs
- Salt, pepper, paprika, cumin, chili powder, red pepper flakes
Shakshuka is a dish of poached egg in tomato sauce with pepper and onion and spices. Like with many traditional/original dishes, they evolve over time and more and more ingredients are added. Luckily shakshuka means ‘mixture’, so I guess you can basically get away with anything 🙂 What you add or change in the original recipe may determine when you eat it. Or … how you eat it, just as it, or with bread, or ……..with cheese as I did.
Easy Shakshuka with Spinach, scooped up with grilled Halloumi.
Easy Shakshuka with Spinach
Ingredients
- 1/4 onion chopped
- 1/2 red bell pepper chopped
- 1/2 green bell pepper chopped
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic minced
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 4.5 ounces spinach coarseley chopped
- 14 ounces fire-roasted tomatoes canned
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon cumin
- salt and pepper
- 10 sprigs cilantro chopped
- 10 sprigs parsley chopped
- 2 eggs
- 4 ounces halloumi optional
Instructions
- Chop the onion and the bell peppers and mince the garlic. (NOTE 1)
- Cut the spinach leaves, not too fine, just a little smaller.
- Heat the oil in a skillet to medium heat and add the onion and bell peppers. Cook for about 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic, spinach, tomatoes, spices and salt and pepper and bring to a low simmer.
- Add most of the cilantro and parsley and mix. Taste and add spices or salt if needed.
- Use the back of a lade to create 2 wells in the skillet and crack the eggs directly into each well.
- Reduce the heat and cover the skillet. Cook for 4-5 minutes. (NOTE 2)
- Garnish with the rest of the cilantro and parsley.
- Serve it as is or with pita bread (very Mediterranean/Middle Eastern) or with grilled Halloumi as I did. (NOTE 3)
Notes
- Instead of fresh garlic you can use garlic paste.
- A cooking time of 4-5 minutes would give firm egg whites, but still a runny yolk. Cook longer if you want the yolk to be less runny and firmer.
- Grilling Halloumi: slice the halloumi cheese into 1/2-inch thick slices. You can grill them straight onto a grilling pan or with a little bit of olive oil (brush each side of the cheese or simply brush your grilling pan with olive oil). Grill the cheese a few minutes on each side. If you like you can blacken the halloumi as well.
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