I’ve been on a huge brunch kick lately – spending every Sunday with pancackes and french toast and scrambles – but for our Easter brunch a couple of weeks ago, I wanted to go with something really different. So, I tried my hand at a Shakshuka – a Moroccan baked egg dish that packs a ton of rich flavor without being too filling. After a bit of tweaking, I’m ready to share the recipe today!
Moroccan Baked Eggs // serves 4
Ingredients ::
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 4 large garlic cloves, peeled and minced
- 1 lb merguez sausage*
- 1 tbsp ras el hanout*
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tbsp harissa (can vary depending on spice)
- 2 cans fire-roasted tomatoes (15oz cans)
- 4 eggs (you can up the amount to 8 if you’d rather have 2 eggs per person)
- 1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro
- 4 tbsp crumbled chevre (goat cheese)
Step 1: Heat some olive oil in a large pan over medium heat – add the onion and stir until they start to brown. Add the garlic and cook for a few minutes. Finally, add the sausage and sauté for about 3 minutes. You want to be careful not to overcook the sausage, as it will cook more with the rest of the ingredients!
Step 2: Add the spices and salt and stir to slightly ‘toast’ them. Add the tomatoes and harissa and cook until the mixture has thickened a bit – about 5 minutes. The amount of harissa can vary depending on how spicy you want the dish. I only did one tablespoon to be on the safe side, as our harissa was fairly hot!
Step 3: Carefully crack the desired amount of eggs over the mixture, then cover and cook until the whites set but the yolks are still soft. It helps to create a little ‘bed’ for each egg as you add them to the mixture. I kept my heat at a medium-low for most of this setting, then turned it up at the end to get things hot again.
Step 4: This is the tricky part! Using a deep spoon carefully lift the eggs into warmed bowls, along with the tomato mixture. I tried getting as much tomato in the bed of the bowl as I could before adding the egg on top.
Step 5: Sprinkle with cilantro and chevre, or put these toppings on the table for guests to add on their own, along with harissa for those who like an extra punch. The chevre acts as a nice balance to the spices. Serve with a warm crusty bread or naan to sop up the tomato goodness!
I love the color that this dish adds to the table, along with our harissa sweet potatoes! Our little bowls only accommodated one egg, but I would plan on serving two eggs to guests to really fill them up.
Chef’s notes: Merguez sausage can be found at most specialty meat shops or even Whole Foods, but you can also substitute a chorizo sausage if needed! Ras el hanout is a mixture of the ‘top shelf’ Moroccan spices, and it took me some effort to find some here in Seattle. The mixture generally includes cardamom, clove, cinnamon, chili pepper, coriander, cumin, paprika and turmeric.
You can also find the recipe for our harissa sweet potatoes here that go perfectly well with this dish!
- 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 4 large garlic cloves, peeled and minced
- 1 lb merguez sausage*
- 1 tbsp ras el hanout*
- 1 tsp smoked paprika
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tbsp harissa (can vary depending on spice)
- 2 cans fire-roasted tomatoes (15oz cans)
- 4 eggs (you can up the amount to 8 if you’d rather have 2 eggs per person)
- 1/2 cup roughly chopped cilantro
- 4 tbsp crumbled chevre (goat cheese)
- Step 1: Heat some olive oil in a large pan over medium heat – add the onion and stir until they start to brown. Add the garlic and cook for a few minutes. Add the sausage and sauté for about 3 minutes. You want to be careful not to overcook the sausage, as it will cook more with the rest of the ingredients!
- Step 2: Add the spices and salt and stir to slightly ‘toast’ them. Add the tomatoes and harissa and cook until the mixture has thickened a bit – about 5 minutes. The amount of harissa can vary depending on how spicy you want the dish. I only did one tablespoon to be on the safe side, as our harissa was fairly hot!
- Step 3: Carefully crack the desired amount of eggs over the mixture, then cover and cook until the whites set but the yolks are still soft. It helps to create a little ‘bed’ for each egg as you add them to the mixture. I kept my heat at a medium-low for most of this setting, then turned it up at the end to get things hot again.
- Step 4: Using a deep spoon carefully lift the eggs into warmed bowls, along with the tomato mixture. I tried getting as much tomato in the bed of the bowl as I could before adding the egg on top.
- Step 5: Sprinkle with cilantro and chevre, or put these toppings on the table for guests to add on their own, along with harissa for those who like an extra punch. The chevre acts as a nice balance to the spices. Serve with a warm crusty bread or naan to sop up the tomato goodness!
