Aubergine shakshuka recipe

Details

• Cuisine: Middle Eastern
• Recipe Type: Eggs
• Difficulty: Easy
• Preparation Time: 20 mins
• Cooking Time: 5 mins
• Serves: 6

Step-by-step

1. Preheat the oven to 220°C/425°F/gas mark 7.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large frying pan. Season the aubergine slices and fry them in batches for 3–4 minutes on each side, until golden and tender, adding more oil as necessary. Transfer the slices to a plate as they are cooked.
3. Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a medium frying pan and sauté the onion gently over a low to medium heat for about 8 minutes, stirring every now and then, until softened. Stir in the garlic and cook for a further minute.
4. Tip the tomatoes into the pan along with any juice and stir into the onion. Cook for 8 minutes until the tomatoes have broken down and softened – they should be a pulp.
5. Pour in the tomato juice and cook, again over a low heat, for 5 minutes. The sauce will be quite thick by this stage.
6. Season with salt, black pepper and the cumin, if using.
7. Spread a layer of aubergine slices over a large, ovenproof dish, then spoon over half the tomato sauce. Repeat to make two layers.
8. Make a hole in the sauce with the back of a large spoon and crack an egg into it. Do the same all round the dish until you’ve positioned all the eggs. Scatter over the feta.
9. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes. Pick the leaves off the parsley and mint sprigs, and chop roughly. When the shakshuka is ready, scatter over the herbs and serve with the warm pitta bread.

This recipe is from Feasts From the Middle East, by Comptoir Libanais founder Tony Kitous (published by HQ, £20, out 8 March 2018).