Penguin Random House South Africa Sharon Lurie, aka the Kosher Butcher’s Wife, takes the home cook on a spicy culinary adventure.
Shakshuka, which originates in North Africa, is a dish of eggs poached in a spicy, harissa-infused tomato sauce. There are a number of versions, but this is Lurie’s meat recipe. It is traditionally prepared in a cast-iron pan, but make sure it’s one that’s clean and presentable, as it should be served straight from the pan.
Shaksausage on mealie meal toast
Ingredients
serves 6
1 cup mealie meal or polenta (cooked as per packet instructions)
olive oil
500g boerewors or Russian sausages or your favourite breakfast sausage, cut into 4–5cm thick slices
6 eggs
Tomato sauce
2 red peppers, halved, deseeded and chopped
2 large onions, chopped
1 tsp crushed garlic
2 Tbsp cooking oil
2 heaped tsp harissa paste
1 Tbsp tomato paste
1 Tbsp brown sugar
½ tsp ground cumin
2 tsp smoked paprika
a pinch cayenne pepper
2 x 400g cans chopped Italian tomatoes
1 Tbsp chopped fresh thyme or ½ tsp dried
1 Tbsp chopped fresh parsley
salt and pepper to taste
1 Tbsp chopped fresh coriander or parsley for sprinkling
Instructions
1. Spread the hot mealie meal or polenta over the base of a 10 x 15cm baking
tray. Cover and refrigerate. This can be prepared a day in advance.
2. To make the tomato sauce, fry the peppers, onions and garlic in the oil
until soft. Add the harissa paste, tomato paste, sugar, cumin, paprika and
cayenne pepper and stir for a minute. Add the chopped tomatoes and bring
to the boil, then lower the heat and allow to simmer for 30 minutes until
the sauce reduces and thickens. Finally, add the thyme, parsley and salt
and pepper.
3. Remove the mealie meal or polenta from the fridge. Slice into fingers (or triangles), lightly oil a grilling pan, brush each side of the fingers with olive oil and pan-sear until golden-brown (3–5 minutes per side), then set aside.
4. Meanwhile, fry the sliced boerewors or sausage in a large frying pan until lightly browned (don’t overcook, just brown for colour). Add the tomato sauce to the sausage and keep it warm over a low heat.
5. Make 6 openings in the tomato sauce and sausage mixture for the eggs. Crack each egg open into a little bowl and then place each egg into the opening created in the sauce. Continue cooking on the stove top until the egg whites start to form and the yolks are done to your preference (although the yolks should be soft).
6. Place the seared mealie meal or polenta fingers in the tomato sauce, sprinkle with coriander or parsley and serve immediately. DM
Sharon Lurie married into a fourth-generation family of butchers and, after experimenting and creating for 25 years, can now prove that meat from the forequarter need not be tough, dry and boring. Since the launch of her first book, Cooking with the Kosher Butcher’s Wife, published by Struik Lifestyle, she has been writing articles for magazines and doing cooking demonstrations of her new recipes.
Visit The Reading List at readinglist.click for South African book news – including recipes! – daily.