This delicious, traditional Middle-Eastern recipe has it all. Baked eggs nestled in a bed of tangy and spicy tomatoes, red pepper, onions, smoked paprika with fresh flat leaf parsley scattered over the top. Perfectly more-ish with warm bread to mop up the juices. It’s so satisfying, I can’t decide whether it’s best for brunch, lunch or dinner. Making it all the more easy, you can put it one skillet or oven-proof sauce pan to save on the washing up. If making this for kids then you may want to leave out the chilli.
Serves: 4-6 people
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Gluten free, Dairy free (option)
Ingredients
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 medium/large onions, halved and thinly sliced
1 red pepper, de seeded and thinly sliced
1 red chilli, de seeded and finely chopped or 1 teaspoon dried chilli flakes
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon smoked or sweet paprika
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
2 bay leaves
2 x 400g (15 ounce) tinned chopped tomatoes
6 large free-range eggs
Pinch of sea salt
Handful (1/2 cup) fresh flat leaf parsley or coriander, roughly chopped to scatter on top
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper (optional)
150g (1 ¼ cups) feta cheese (optional)
Method
Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4 (350°F)
- Heat the oil in a large ovenproof pan over a medium heat. Add the onion, red pepper, garlic and chilli and sauté gently until softened, about 10 minutes. You want to hear a nice gentle sizzle.
- Pour in the tomatoes and stir in the tomato paste, cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper and bay leaves. Season with a little bit of salt (you need less sea salt if using feta, as it is quite salty in flavour). Bring to a gentle simmer and allow to cook for 15 minutes, so all the flavours infuse together and the sauce thickens, stirring often. At this stage, if using feta cheese, crumble it evenly over the top.
- Gently crack the eggs into the pan over the tomatoes, giving enough room in between each one for them to spread and cook.
- Transfer the pan from the hob into the oven and bake until the eggs are just set, about 10 minutes.
- Sprinkle with the chopped herbs and serve immediately. Remember to fish out the bay leaves!
- I love it with the Farinata flat bread to dip in.