They were baseball and softball-sized tomatoes that have been beautiful from the garden. These fruit have a lot of flesh and not so many seeds, very little of that woody cracking that happens when water is unevenly provided for growing vines and fruit, and a wonderful rich red color. I can't complain about anything other than the fact that there are so many coming on! My solution for these last four for the day was to make a summertime shakshuka.
Northern African shakshuka has a few iterations, depending on the season, but this is a version just for high summer. It's a simple slow sauté of red and yellow peppers, cloves of minced garlic, olive oil, harissa, a bit of tomato paste, dried cumin, salt and pepper and plenty of ripe juicy tomatoes !
Top this hot bubbly mess off with four eggs and let them gently poach in the juices. Sprinkle on some salt and pepper, serve topped with labneh (or a dollop of Greek yogurt or sour cream) and have some sort of bread for sopping up the juices and the yolk !
Suppertime was simple and so very high summer ! Fresh sweet corn on the cob, crunchy croissants for sopping and shakshuka with perfectly runny yolks - four more tomatoes down for the count !
Summertime Shakshuka
~a Yotam Ottolenghi recipe~
~a Yotam Ottolenghi recipe~
Serves 2 hungry souls
Ingredients:
2 tbsp. olive oil
3 tbsp. harissa
1 rounded tbsp. tomato paste
1 rounded tsp. ground cumin
1 pinch cayenne pepper or red pepper flakes (not too many)
2 large sweet peppers, red and yellow, sliced into thin slices
4 cloves garlic minced
4 or 5 large super ripe tomatoes, roughly chopped into smallish chunks
4 large eggs
1/2 c. Greek yogurt, sour cream, or labneh
Kosher salt and black pepper
Making the Dish:
1. Have the vegetables prepped before beginning to cook.
2. Heat a large deep frypan over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil, tomato paste, harissa, and cumin to the hot pan and stir to combine, as it bubbles and spits. Add the peppers and toss to coat with the oily sauce.
3. Cook, stirring often for three or four minutes. When the peppers have softened a bit, add the tomatoes. Toss to combine, lower the heat and simmer uncovered, letting the tomatoes and juice bubble to reduce and thicken. Cook for about 15 minutes.
4. Make four little depressions in the vegetables and gently crack the eggs into the depressions. Cook gently for about 8 minutes (uncovered) or until the whites have set up.
5. You can cover the pan towards the end of the time to set up the whites atop the yolk if you like, but be careful not to overcook ... runny yolks are a must!
6. To serve, spoon some of the peppers and an egg atop into bowls, sprinkle on salt and pepper and plop a dollop of dairy along side.
Posting this to the I Heart Cooking Club's Pot Luck this week, as it is an Ottolenghi-inspired dish from his Jerusalem cook book. Click the link to head to the Cooking Club and see what others have posted!
I won't mind have all the extra tomatoes; they look perfect. Shakshuka is just the perfect recipe, especially with a kick of harissa in the mix. Shirley
ReplyDeleteI love Ottolenghi's Shakshuka! Not only is it the epitome of colorful, it's also so healthy and welcoming.
ReplyDeleteI love your dishes!!
I have this cookbook but I can't remember if I made this particular recipe. All those vegetables look so vibrant and good.
ReplyDelete