How to Make Chef John's Shakshuka for One
Transform your breakfast with this flavorful and fiery Shakshuka! The mouthwatering dish in this video features poached eggs nestled in a vibrant tomato and bell pepper sauce, infused with Chef John's signature spice blend. Experience a culinary adventure with each delicious bite that will leave you wanting more.
Transcript
00:00 Hello, this is Chef John from FoodWishes.com with Shakshuka for one!
00:07 That's right, sometimes we need to take a break from that bowl of cereal and not
00:12 just make a better breakfast, but make what I think is one of the best
00:15 breakfasts. And while Shakshuka is great for a group, it's also perfect for
00:20 scaling down to one portion, which is exactly what I'm about to show you how
00:24 to do. And the first thing we'll need is some kind of small pan. And for me these
00:28 little cast-iron skillets are a great choice, but really any old small frying
00:32 pan will work. And once we decide on a pan, we'll start by adding two ingredients
00:37 you can never eat enough of, which would be some nice extra virgin olive oil,
00:41 which we will cover with some thickly sliced mushrooms. And once we arrange
00:46 those in a single layer, we'll go ahead and sprinkle over a little bit of salt.
00:49 And then we'll top those mushrooms with some sliced red onions, or of course the
00:54 onions of your choice. And then on top of the onions, we'll finish up with some
00:59 mixed sliced peppers. And I use three kinds, some red bell, some anaheim, which
01:04 are green, and then some sliced jalapeno. And then we'll finish up by sprinkling
01:09 on one more pinch of salt. Before we head to the stove, we're gonna place this
01:13 on medium-high heat, or if you're on a gas stove, the highest heat setting we
01:18 can do without the flames coming up and around our pan. All right, we want the
01:22 flames under the pan. And then what we'll do for the next few minutes is nothing.
01:27 We are just gonna wait for our mushrooms to start to sizzle in that olive oil. And
01:32 because we topped our mushrooms with that little pinch of salt, moisture is
01:35 gonna be pulled out, which is actually what causes that irresistible sizzling
01:39 sound, which if you haven't heard it before, is a little something like this.
01:45 And what we're trying to accomplish here in these first few minutes is to get
01:51 some nice browning on the bottom of those mushrooms. And yes, we're allowed to
01:55 peek. And the reason I like to layer the veggies is because this way all those
01:59 mushrooms are in contact with the pan. Okay, if we just tossed everything in,
02:03 only some of them would be in contact. And also while those are browning, that
02:07 hot steam being produced is sort of softening our onions and peppers above,
02:11 which has given them a little head start for when we stir everything together,
02:15 which we can do as soon as we're happy with how browned our mushrooms got. And
02:19 yes, a freakishly small wooden spoon would be a good choice here. But anyway,
02:24 we'll give those a quick stir and cook our onions and peppers for about a
02:28 minute. Okay, they don't need that long since they are gonna simmer and soften
02:32 up in the tomato sauce. So like I said, we'll give those a relatively quick stir
02:36 fry. And then before we do add our tomato and other sauce ingredients, I like to
02:41 toss the spices in and toast those for a few seconds. And what I like to use is
02:46 some ground cumin, some smoked paprika, some turmeric, a little bit of dried
02:52 oregano, a pinch of freshly ground black pepper, and then last but never least, a
02:57 few shakes of cayenne. And what we'll do is stir those in and let them cook for
03:02 just like 30 seconds, which is gonna sort of wake up the flavors. And once that's
03:07 been accomplished, we can go ahead and add our tomato product, which for me is
03:11 just gonna be a simple tomato puree or passata as it said on the jar. And then
03:16 we'll also want to add a splash of water and we'll stir everything together and
03:20 wait for things to come back to a simmer. And by the way, any kind of tomato sauce
03:25 will work here. Alright, I'm using pure tomato, but you could use a marinara or
03:30 some leftover pasta sauce. Alright, the only difference that would make would be
03:34 adjusting your seasonings, which reminds me, if we are using just tomato, we're
03:39 probably gonna need a nice big pinch of salt. So I went ahead and stirred that in.
03:43 And then once everything does start to simmer again, we'll reduce our heat to
03:47 medium-low and we'll give this a quick taste for seasoning. And if it tastes
03:52 good, mine did, before we add our egg, I like to stir in some fresh herb. Alright,
03:57 this time it was cilantro, but parsley will work, as would dill. And then I also
04:02 at this point like to crumble in a little bit of feta. Alright, you can just
04:05 add this to the top when you serve it, but I want a little bit in there to
04:09 simmer with the egg while it cooks. Speaking of which, let's take our spoon
04:13 and make a little bit of a well in the middle, into which we will carefully
04:17 transfer in one large egg. And yes, I always crack that into a small bowl
04:21 first, since if you do it will never break. And if we just try to crack the
04:25 egg directly into that well, it almost always breaks. I mean, that's the universe
04:30 for you. And nobody cares if that yolk is centered, except people like me. So I
04:36 carefully nudge that over a little bit. And then of course, eggs don't come
04:39 seasoned, so I'm going to sprinkle that with a little bit of salt. And that's it,
04:43 our shakshuka is done, as soon as our egg is cooked to our liking. And to speed
04:48 the operation up, I highly suggest we cover this up, and then we'll let that
04:52 simmer in the sauce for, I don't know, maybe three, four, five minutes. Okay, it
04:57 all depends on how well done you want your egg, but for me personally, I do not
05:01 want it cooked all the way through. Okay, I want a runny yolk, or at least a jammy
05:06 yolk. So I'm only gonna go to this point, and let me go ahead and give this the
05:10 old shake-a-shake-a, so you can see what it looks like. Okay, that is definitely
05:15 undercooked, but that's fine. Because by the time we pull this off, and garnish it,
05:19 and grab some bread, that hot sauce will have finished cooking it perfectly. So
05:24 what I'm trying to say is, how long you cook this is gonna be up to you. I mean,
05:28 you are after all the Tim Gunn, of when your shakshuka for one is done. But
05:33 anyway, that was looking perfect. So I pulled it off the heat, and I place this
05:37 next to some sliced bread. And then to finish this up, I'm gonna go ahead and
05:40 crumble over some more feta, since I really love feta. As well as a shake or
05:45 two of Aleppo chili flake. And then I also like to do a little extra drizzle
05:50 of olive oil, since as I mentioned, you literally can't eat enough of that. And
05:54 then I finished up with some freshly torn cilantro leaves. And that's it, our
05:59 shakshuka for one is done. So let me go ahead and grab a spoon and a piece of
06:04 bread, and dig in. And that my friends, as I said earlier, is without a doubt, one of
06:09 the best breakfasts ever. I mean, a bowl of Captain Crunch is nice, but it is not
06:15 this nice. And not only will this sustain you for a good part of the day, while it
06:20 does, you're gonna feel very happy and satisfied. And all will seem right with
06:24 the world. And as I mentioned, even though that egg was slightly undercooked
06:28 when we pulled it off, after sitting on the hot sauce for a couple minutes, it is
06:32 finished cooking perfectly. Or at least for my taste. Alright, if you want to cook
06:37 your egg all the way through until it's hard, go ahead. Alright, I'm not mad, but I
06:42 am a little bit disappointed, since I think a slightly runny yolk really makes
06:46 this so much more special. Oh, and the last thing to cover before we sign off, do
06:50 not under any circumstances, try to eat this without bread, of some sort. Right,
06:56 eating a shakshuka without bread is like dancing without music. Have you ever
07:01 seen someone dance when there's no music playing? That is not a good look. So
07:05 whether you serve some nice sliced baguette, or some beautiful Middle
07:09 Eastern style flatbread, we are gonna need something to dip in here, to sop up
07:13 all that amazing sauce. But no matter what kind of bread you serve with this,
07:17 the next time you're making breakfast alone, and you want to take a break from
07:21 that bowl of cereal, I cannot think of anything more perfect. Which is why I
07:26 really do hope you give this a try soon. So please follow the links below for the
07:31 ingredient amounts, a printable written recipe, and much more info as usual.
07:37 As always, enjoy!
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