Chef Johns Shakshuka Recipes

CHEF JOHN'S SHAKSHUKA

Steps:

• Heat olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and mushrooms. Sprinkle with salt. Cook and stir until mushrooms release all of their liquid and start to brown, about 10 minutes. Stir in bell peppers and jalapeno pepper. Cook and stir until peppers begin to soften up, about 5 minutes. Season with cumin, paprika, turmeric, black pepper, and cayenne. Stir and cook to "wake up" the flavors, about 1 minute. Pour in crushed tomatoes and water. Adjust heat to medium and simmer uncovered until veggies are softened and sweet, stirring occasionally, 15 to 20 minutes. Add more water if sauce becomes too thick.
• Make a depression in the sauce for each egg with a large spoon. Crack egg into a small ramekin and slide gently into each indentation; repeat with the rest of the eggs. Season with salt and pepper. Cover and cook until eggs are to your desired doneness.
• Top with feta cheese and parsley.

SHAKSHUKA WITH FETA

Steps:

• Heat the oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add the onions and a pinch of salt and cook, stirring, until soft and translucent, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic, cumin, harissa, smoked paprika, red pepper flakes, another good pinch of salt and a few turns of black pepper. Cook until it's all dreamy-smelly, another 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, followed by the chopped tomatoes and sugar, and simmer until slightly thickened, 10 minutes more. Taste the sauce and adjust the seasonings.
• Make 8 little wells in the sauce and crack in the eggs. Simmer until the egg whites are set but the yolks are still runny, about 10 minutes. (You can either baste the eggs with sauce during cooking or just let them be in a sunny-side-up situation.) Off the heat, drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle the eggs with a little salt and pepper. Scatter the feta and parsley over all.

SHAKSHUKA

Steps:

• Position an oven rack 5-inches from the top of oven and set the broiler to high.
• Cut the peppers in half lengthwise, discard the seeds, and place cut-side down on a sheet pan. Broil until the skins are completely charred, about 10 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. (Or char the peppers over gas burners, turning often.)
• Transfer the peppers to a large bowl, cover tightly with plastic wrap and allow then to steam for 15 minutes, then rub the skins off under running water. Drain and roughly chop into half-inch squares.
• Place a 10-inch cast-iron skillet over medium heat for 2 minutes. Add the oil and heat until shimmering, or until it reaches 335 to 350 degrees F. Stir in the garlic and salt and cook until the garlic begins to brown, about 1 minute.
• Add the harissa, brown sugar and preserved lemons and cook, stirring vigorously, for 30 seconds. Follow with the peppers, then grate the tomatoes directly into the pan using the large holes of a box grater, discarding the remaining pieces of skin. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer for 20 minutes, stirring every 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile, bring a small pot of water to a boil and prepare an ice bath in a large bowl. Carefully lower the eggs (in their shells) into the boiling water and cook for 1 minute then dunk in the ice bath for 30 seconds. Remove to a dish towel.
• Create 6 divots in the stew with the back of a large spoon or ladle, making them deep enough to hold the eggs without pushing through to the bottom of the pan. Crack the par-cooked eggs into the divots. (I usually break them one by one into a custard cup to protect the yolk.) Cook over medium-low heat until the whites are just set but the yolks are still runny, about 12 minutes.
• Garnish with chopped parsley and serve immediately.
• Toast the cumin, coriander and caraway in a dry cast-iron skillet over medium heat until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Stir in the olive oil, garlic, onion and salt. Cook until the garlic begins to brown, about 2 minutes.
• Stir in the urfa biber and tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. Add the red wine vinegar and cook 2 minutes more.
• Transfer the mixture to a food processor fitted with a standard S-blade and process until smooth, scraping down the sides as needed. Store in a tightly sealed glass container in the refrigerator for up to 3 months.
• Trim the ends off the lemons. Slice each lemon into 8 wedges, removing any seeds as you go. Reserve as much of the juice as possible.
• Layer the lemon wedges in a wide-mouthed 16-ounce canning jar, covering each layer with salt. Pack the jar as tightly as possible, pressing down to release the lemons' juice as you go and leaving about 1/4 inch of headspace in the jar.
• Cover the wedges with the reserved lemon juice from the cutting board and the ends. If your lemons do not release a significant amount of juice, top off the jar with the juice of another lemon.
• Stash in the refrigerator for 4 days, then flip the jar over and age another 4 days before sampling. The peel should be nice and soft. Rinse before using.
• Expect peak flavor and texture after about a month. As long as they're kept refrigerated, preserved lemons should keep indefinitely.