Shakshuka with Feta and Smoked Paprika
Eggs poached in a spiced tomato bath
Shakshuka is the ultimate one-pan breakfast: eggs gently poached in a thick, spiced tomato sauce until the whites set and the yolks stay molten. This version leans on smoked paprika for a deep, warming undertone and finishes with crumbled feta, whose salty tang cuts through the richness beautifully. It comes together in half an hour in a single pan, and tastes every bit as good at lunch or supper. Serve it bubbling, with bread to scoop up every last bit.
Shakshuka with Feta and Smoked Paprika
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 onion, finely sliced
- 1 red pepper, sliced
- 3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp caster sugar
- Pinch of chilli flakes
- 2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
- 4 large eggs
- 100g feta, crumbled
- Small handful of coriander or parsley, chopped
- Salt and black pepper
- Crusty bread, to serve
Method
- Heat the olive oil in a wide, deep frying pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and red pepper and cook gently for 10 minutes until soft and beginning to colour.
- Stir in the garlic, smoked paprika, cumin and chilli flakes and cook for another minute until fragrant.
- Tip in the chopped tomatoes and sugar, season well, and simmer for 12-15 minutes until thickened and glossy.
- Taste the sauce and adjust the seasoning; it should be rich and well rounded.
- Use the back of a spoon to make four shallow wells in the sauce.
- Crack an egg into each well, then cover the pan with a lid.
- Cook gently for 6-8 minutes, until the whites are just set but the yolks remain runny.
- Scatter the crumbled feta over the top, along with the chopped herbs and a grind of black pepper.
- Bring the pan straight to the table and serve with plenty of crusty bread for dipping.
3 The Story
Shakshuka is a dish of eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes, peppers, onions and spices, and it has become a fixture far beyond its origins, served in cafés from Tel Aviv to London at all hours of the day. Its name is generally understood to come from an Arabic word meaning a mixture or something all jumbled together, which suits a dish where everything cooks down into one fragrant pan. While many people first encounter it as an Israeli breakfast, its roots lie further west, in the cooking of North Africa, particularly Tunisia, from where it travelled across the Mediterranean and the Middle East.
The sauce is the soul of the dish, and it rewards a little patience. Cooking the onions and peppers slowly until soft and sweet builds a base of flavour, while simmering the tomatoes long enough to thicken concentrates them into something rich rather than watery. A pinch of sugar balances any sharpness in the tinned tomatoes. The eggs then poach directly in this sauce, the gentle heat setting the whites while the yolks stay soft, ready to be broken and stirred through the spiced tomato at the table.
Smoked paprika is the defining note in this version. Made from peppers that are dried over oak-wood fires before being ground, the spanish spice known as pimentón carries a distinctive smoky depth quite different from the bright heat of fresh chilli. A teaspoon stirred into the aromatics gives the whole pan a warm, almost barbecued undertone that complements the sweetness of the peppers and the acidity of the tomatoes. Cumin alongside it adds an earthy backbone familiar across North African and Middle Eastern cooking.
The feta is the second twist, and a natural one. Crumbled over the eggs in the final moments, the brined sheep’s-milk cheese softens slightly in the residual heat without fully melting, its salty, tangy character providing a sharp counterpoint to the mellow tomato sauce. A scattering of fresh coriander or parsley brightens the whole thing. The beauty of shakshuka is its informality: there is no need for precise plating, just a hot pan carried straight to the table, plenty of bread for dipping, and everyone digging in together while the yolks are still soft.
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