Meat Shakshuka

Shakshuka, a common vegetarian dish in the Middle East, is made of eggs, tomatoes, onions, peppers and cumin. It is originally a Turkish dish with meat, but apparently Tunisian Jews who moved to Israel eliminated the meat. WHAT A MISTAKE!

While Israelis will tell you that Shakshuka is an Israeli dish, this dish is found in many Arab countries in similar form.

There is even a doctor for it

When visiting Israel many people will tell you to go to the restaurant of Dr. Shakshuka in Jaffa. He made this rather simple dish popular and mecame himself a celebrity in a country where anyone can be one.

Cook for criminals

Dr. Shakshuka learned to cook in prison where he served time for a minor offense (that is his story). I assume that he cooked shakshuka because it is a really simple dish that you can easily do yourself and turns our usually better that in the many chain breakfast and coffee places in Israel.

The return of the meat

The classic shakshuka in Israel is without meat. So, basically in many restaurants it is just a mediocre totato sauce with some eggs in it. The shakeshuka done right elevates this dish to an amazing breakfast or dinner dish, adding meat brings it to another level.

Ingredients

For 4 people:

4 eggplants (approx. 1 kg)

1 tablespoon of olive oil, plus drizzle additive

1 large onion, finely chopped (200g net)

6 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped (20g net)

½ TL chili flakes

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp. ground cumin

2 tsp tomato paste

300g chopped beef

2 medium-sized tomatoes, chopped (100 g net)

4 eggs

1 teaspoon sumac

1 tablespoon chopped parsley

salt and black pepper

Tahini sauce:

40 g Tahini

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 clove of garlic, crushed

Preparation

Cut the aubergines in half, carve the aubergine flesh with a knife, drizzle with oil and salt. Braise the halved aubergines in the oven at 180° for about 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool. As soon as the aubergines are cool enough to hold in your hand, scrape out the aubergine flesh with a spoon and set aside.

Prepare the tahini sauce by simply mixing all the ingredients together with ¼ teaspoon of salt and 1 tablespoon of water. It must be thick and rich, but you may need to add a splash of water if it is too stiff.

Heat the olive oil in a tall medium frying pan. Add the onion, garlic, chilli, cinnamon, caraway and tomato paste and brown over medium heat for 6 minutes to soften and colour a little. Add the chopped beef, 1 teaspoon of salt and a little pepper and brown well, 5-6 minutes, stirring over a high heat. Add the tomatoes and the eggplant meat and simmer for another 5 minutes. Add some water if the sauce gets too thick.

Make four small depressions in the mixture and break an egg into each. The eggs must now be boiled at low heat for about 10 minutes until the egg white is cooked but the yolk is still liquid. Covering the pan with a lid speeds up the process.

Remove from the heat and dust with the tahini sauce, sprinkle with sumac and season with parsley and a dash of olive oil.

Fresh bread or pita bread goes well with it.