“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
- On separate trays, place cherry tomatoes, red onion and red peppers and roast in oven until all ingredients are soft and smoky.
- Peel the skin off the red peppers and tomatoes.
- Toast cumin seeds in a large pot until lightly roasted.
- 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
- Shave shallots on a mandolin to 2 mm thickness.
- Add to oil, and slowly heat up until oil reaches 285°F.
- Cook onions until golden brown.
- Remove from oil and drain on a paper towel.
- 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
- Add all ingredients, except canola oil, into a robot coupe blender and blend until very smooth.
- Slowly drizzle in canola oil to emulsify.
- Pass through a fine chinois sieve and reserve.
To prepare shakshuka:
- In a small cast iron skillet, add shakshuka sauce and heat through.
- Carefully crack both eggs into the centre of the skillet.
- Scatter cherry tomatoes all over the top and roast in the oven until eggs are just cooked.
- Garnish with olive oil, za’atar, crispy onions and basil.
- Dot toum all over top.
- Warm pita and serve on the side.