A beautiful brunch or light dinner. Poaching eggs in a flavoursome, aromatic sauce is all the rage


Serves 4

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 ¼ cup/60 ml olive oil
1 large yellow onion, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
½ tsp coriander seeds, lightly crushed with a mortar and pestle or the back of a knife
½ tsp cumin seeds, lightly crushed with a mortar and pestle or the back of a knife
3 bell peppers in a variety of colors, seeded, deribbed, and cut into ½-in/12-mm strips
2 tsp light brown sugar
1 bay leaf
2 cups/530 g canned whole peeled tomatoes and their juice
2 tsp harissa paste or 1 tsp red pepper flakes (see Cook’s Note)
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup/10 g chopped fresh parsley, plus more for garnish
4 room-temperature eggs
2 oz/55 g crumbled feta cheese
Warm slices of baguette or pita wedges for serving

Preparation

 Heat the oil in a 12-in/30.5-cm heavy skillet over high heat. When it’s shimmering hot, add the onion and sauté until soft and just beginning to char, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, coriander, and cumin and sauté until the mixture is quite fragrant, about 1 minute more. Stir in the bell peppers and sauté until they begin to soften and brown, about 5 minutes. Add the sugar and bay leaf and cook until the bell peppers are evenly charred and tender, 3 to 4 minutes.
Add the tomatoes, ½ cup/120 ml water, harissa, a few big pinches of salt, and a small pinch of black pepper and bring to a simmer, using a wooden spoon to break up the toma­toes. Reduce the heat to low and cover the pan with a lid or a sheet of aluminum foil crimped tightly around the edges. Stew the mixture until the bell peppers are as tender as you’d like, 15 to 25 minutes. I prefer them to be ten­der but still firm to the bite, but you may like them very tender, as with roasted peppers. Add a few tbsp of water, as needed, to keep the mixture loose and saucy.
Stir in the parsley. Taste and add more salt and black pepper as needed. Make four shal­low wells in the sauce and crack an egg into each. Adjust the heat to bring the sauce back to a low simmer, cover, and cook until the egg whites are just set and the yolks are still runny, 6 to 8 minutes, or longer if you prefer fully cooked yolks.
Sprinkle on the cheese and garnish with parsley. Dish up the shakshouka at the table, with warm baguette slices for dipping.

To drink: Moroccan mint tea

 Egg tip: The eggs will continue to cook off the heat, so if you want liquid yolks, which I recommend, be sure to pull the pan from the burner when the eggs are still a little jiggly.

 Cook’s note: Harissa paste is a fragrant and spicy North African chile paste that can be found at spe­cialty food stores and many supermarkets.