How to make Shook’s shakshuka

“While travelling extensively through the Middle East for work, I often encountered shakshuka in many of the restaurants I visited,” says Shook chef Ben Heaton. “It was a dish that stuck with me. Enjoyed anytime during the day, it packs a punch of flavour. This is our most popular dish at Shook.”

Ingredients

  • 2 whole eggs
  • 225 gm shakshuka sauce
  • 40 gm cherry tomatoes, halved
  • 2 gm basil leaves
  • 2 gm crispy onions
  • 2 gm za’atar
  • 10 gm olive oil
  • 25 gm toum
  • 1 pc pita

To make shakshuka sauce

  • 200 gm red cherry tomatoes
  • 100 gm sliced red onion
  • 20 gm cumin seeds, whole
  • 500 gm red peppers
  • 50 gm Turkish pepper paste
  • 250 gm Turkish peeled red pepper
  1. On separate trays, place cherry tomatoes, red onion and red peppers and roast in oven until all ingredients are soft and smoky.
  2. Peel the skin off the red peppers and tomatoes.
  3. Toast cumin seeds in a large pot until lightly roasted.
  4. Add all other ingredients to the pot, and cook down slowly until reduced by one-third.

To make crispy onions:

  • 1000 gm peeled shallots
  • 5 L canola oil
  1. Shave shallots on a mandolin to 2 mm thickness.
  2. Add to oil, and slowly heat up until oil reaches 285°F.
  3. Cook onions until golden brown.
  4. Remove from oil and drain on a paper towel.
  5. Dehydrate onions in the oven at 135°F for 24 hours.

To make toum:

  • 400 gm canola oil
  • 100 gm garlic cloves
  • 10 gm kosher salt
  • 40 gm lemon juice
  • 40 gm water
  1. Add all ingredients, except canola oil, into a robot coupe blender and blend until very smooth.
  2. Slowly drizzle in canola oil to emulsify.
  3. Pass through a fine chinois sieve and reserve.

To prepare shakshuka:

  1. In a small cast iron skillet, add shakshuka sauce and heat through.
  2. Carefully crack both eggs into the centre of the skillet.
  3. Scatter cherry tomatoes all over the top and roast in the oven until eggs are just cooked.
  4. Garnish with olive oil, za’atar, crispy onions and basil.
  5. Dot toum all over top.
  6. Warm pita and serve on the side.

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