Is shakshuka just a fad people talk about but never actually make? I always see it floated as an option for eggs outside of breakfast but I don't think I've ever had anyone make it besides myself, and even then I cheated by adding meat to it.
Is shakshuka just a fad people talk about but never actually make?
its a meme food for sure
I find it's really hard to actually nicely poach the eggs, the sauce needs to cook for a long time and the eggs end up hard boiled always.
You have to tuck the eggs into an already heated sauce by making divots in it and put them in the oven. Broil them at the end if that isn't enough.
Just cover the pan and low as possible heat after the sauce is fully cooked
You can tell when they are good if they still jiggle a bit when you shake the pan but don't look wet
I've made it twice so far. It's okay, but doesn't really pair that well with the meat sauce I usually make.
It's not a fad, just a way to use up red-sauce when you're sick of noodles. I think there's an Italian one as well for leftover bolognese. You pretty much need toasted bread to eat it, although near easterners use whatever flatbread and far easterners with rice.
>you're sick of noodles
What? That happens to people? I get being sick of a dish, but being sick of a food category?
I dunno, sometimes you gotta vary your starches. Bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, maybe some cheeky cauliflower or something. I just don't like eating the same meal three times in a row.
I grew up eating eggs in purgatory and eggs in a field, which are similar dishes from Italy and I used to have an Algerian cleaning lady who insisted that chakchoukha is actually just as vegetable stew and the eggs are optional. She says lots of people put very soft meatballs in it instead of egg or simply keep it vegetarian.
Forgot pic: egg in a field.
I'm not finding this with google, can you describe the green sauce? Looks good.
I've made it a few times, it's very easy and tastes good. I add meatballs and eggs, and then I have it with goat cheese.
OP is a liar, this is not a real dish.
They are trying to push you into making a big mistake with eggs.
No first time I had it was in Tunis and people eat it all the time
I remember some show 5 years ago on food network where the celeb chefs were all gushing over this dish and sucking off MENA so it's definitely a meme.
I used to make it more now probably once or twice a month. It tastes good and is dead easy to make, can't really go wrong.
I don't know many people that make it at all let alone often though.
the le epic narhwal bacon of the 2020s
I like it enough to make it once a month. I top it with feta and eat it on sourdough
I make something like this, but as a chili. Basically I use a mix of breakfast or Hispanicy italian sausage, and lean ground beef. It's a great meal to make because it's dumb cheap and uses shit I have laying around.
Protip: divide your ground meats into portions, and freeze them. Even if they get a little freezer burn because you forgot they were in there, or they fell down to the bottom shelf, you can still have decent meat.
Take a skillet, put the frozen meat in it under med/high heat, I try to locate the heat to one side of the pan, and an easy way to do this is to start on a smaller burner and just have the skillet offset. Use tongs and a spoon to hold the meat and scrape the cooked bits off and to the cooler side of the skillet. Once the meat is 'rare cooked' drain, and then add whatever veg you want. Half an onion in the fridge? In it goes diced up. Clove of garlic hanging around? Minced and tossed. Have celery or tomatoes about to turn? Chop them up and add them. Add salt, pepper, simmer, add stock if needed.
Add pasta sauce or tomatoe paste and let it simmer until you get an oily film. Add the eggs and cover, take it off the heat. Enjoy in 10 minutes if you used cold eggs. Sooner if they're room temp. Should be pretty easy to see if they're poached or not. I usually add some broken tortilla chips and cheddar, sour cream and salsa verde.
Basically take any box dinner noodle/rice strat and apply it the same, can have lot of different mixes of mashups. Thinking outside the box and using stuff like different proteins or starches, different cooking techniques, etc, this is the jumping off point for that.