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<h1>SHAKSHUKA</h1>
<p>A one-pan dish of eggs poached in a spiced tomato and capsicum sauce — perfect for using up pizza-night leftovers (passata, half a capsicum, that lonely onion). Freeze the base in portions and you’ve got a 10-minute meal whenever you need it. The same tomato base also doubles as the filling for our <a href=”#”>Sweet Potato Paptert</a>.</p>
<h3>Ingredients</h3>
<ul>
<li>30ml olive oil</li>
<li>1 large brown onion, diced</li>
<li>1 red capsicum, diced</li>
<li>3 garlic cloves, minced</li>
<li>2 tsp ground cumin</li>
<li>2 tsp smoked paprika</li>
<li>½ tsp chilli flakes</li>
<li>1 tsp salt</li>
<li>700g passata (or 1 × 400g tin chopped tomatoes plus 300ml water)</li>
<li>8 eggs</li>
<li>Fresh parsley or coriander, to serve</li>
<li>Crusty bread or sourdough, to serve</li>
<li>Fermented ricotta or feta, to serve (optional)</li>
</ul>
<h3>Method</h3>
<ol>
<li>Heat the olive oil in a wide frypan or cast iron pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes until soft.</li>
<li>Add the capsicum and cook for another 5 minutes.</li>
<li>Stir in the garlic, cumin, smoked paprika and chilli flakes. Cook for 1 minute until fragrant.</li>
<li>Pour in the passata and salt. Simmer for 10–15 minutes until thickened — you want it thick enough to hold the eggs in place.</li>
<li>Make 8 wells in the sauce with the back of a spoon and crack an egg into each one.</li>
<li>Cover the pan and cook for 5–8 minutes, until the whites are set but the yolks are still runny.</li>
<li>Scatter with herbs and crumble over fermented ricotta or feta if using. Serve straight from the pan with bread for mopping.</li>
</ol>
<h3>Notes</h3>
<p><strong>Add blended kimchi.</strong> Stir 1–2 tablespoons of blended kimchi into the sauce with the passata. It adds the depth and tang that distinguishes a great shakshuka from a flat one — this is the version I make most often.</p>
<p><strong>Freezer-friendly.</strong> Make a double or triple batch of the tomato base (steps 1–4) and freeze in meal-sized portions. To serve, defrost, bring back to a simmer in the pan, then add the eggs and continue from step 5. A weeknight dinner in 10 minutes.</p>
<p><strong>Use it as a paptert filling.</strong> The same base — particularly the kimchi version — is what fills our <a href=”#”>Sweet Potato Paptert</a>.</p>
<p><strong>Cucina povera.</strong> This is a perfect pizza-night cleanup recipe — leftover passata, half a capsicum, the end of an onion, a few garlic cloves. Use whatever’s in the crisper.</p>
<p><strong>Bulk it out.</strong> Stir through a tin of drained chickpeas or black beans with the passata. A handful of chopped silverbeet or spinach wilted into the sauce works too. For meat eaters, fry off some chorizo at the start.</p>
<p><strong>Substitutions.</strong> No passata? Use a 400g tin of chopped tomatoes with 300ml water, or a kilo of overripe fresh tomatoes (skinned and chopped). No fresh capsicum? Use a roasted one from a jar. Coriander instead of parsley, or both.</p>
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