Shakshuka (Global Breakfast)

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 large onion, finely sliced
• 2 red peppers, deseeded and sliced
• 4 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• ½ tsp chilli flakes, or to heat preference
• 800 g canned whole tomatoes, crushed by hand
• 8 eggs, at room temperature
• To finish
• 80 g feta cheese, crumbled
• 1 small bunch fresh coriander, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
• To serve
• 1 loaf sourdough bread, thickly sliced and toasted

Method

1. 1
   Warm the olive oil in a wide, heavy pan — cast iron is preferred — over medium heat. Add the onion and peppers and cook, stirring occasionally, until fully softened and beginning to caramelise at the edges, so the natural sugars concentrate and give the sauce a depth that raw or merely softened vegetables cannot. Add the garlic and cook for a further minute, until golden, yielding, and fragrant.
2. 2
   Add the cumin, paprika, and chilli, stirring to coat the aromatics thoroughly so the spices toast in the oil rather than steam in their own moisture, which is what drives off the raw, dusty edge. Cook for one minute: the pan should smell of toasted spice, not raw powder.
3. 3
   Add the crushed tomatoes, stir to combine, and reduce over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is thick enough to hold a channel when a spoon is drawn through it — it must not be watery. This is where the dish lives or dies: a thin sauce will allow the egg whites to spread unevenly and fail to set cleanly around the yolk, so the reduction must be complete before the eggs go in.
4. 4
   With a spoon, press four to eight evenly spaced wells into the hot sauce — one per egg — so each white has a defined boundary and sets in place rather than bleeding across the pan. Crack one egg into each well, spacing them far enough apart that the whites cannot merge as they cook.
5. 5
   Cover the pan with a tight-fitting lid and reduce the heat to low, so the trapped steam gently finishes the whites from above while the yolks stay shielded from direct heat and remain soft. Cook until the whites are fully set and opaque but the yolks are still visibly mobile beneath a thin film — the white should not wobble when the pan is nudged, and the yolk surface should show no pale, cooked film.
6. 6
   Remove from the heat immediately and scatter crumbled feta and chopped coriander across the pan, then drizzle with the extra virgin olive oil. Carry the pan directly to the table, because pre-plating traps the eggs against the hot sauce and the yolks will overcook before anyone lifts a fork. Serve with toasted sourdough alongside for scooping.