I love the original Shakshuka – a Tunisian baked egg dish with red peppers, tomato and fiery harissa. This green version was inspired by one of my favourite cafes and it’s just as delicious in a more calming way.
Frozen spinach is a surprisingly tasty and not-so-surprisingly convenient ingredient. After frozen peas, it’s my go-to ’emergency’ frozen vegetable. I’ve also made this with fresh kale and it was equally as good but much more work!
And make sure you’re generous the the olive oil. It really brings this dish to life! The feta will probably bring enough salt so no need to season unless you think it needs it.
Green Shakshuka
Ingredients
- 1 onion
- 250 g frozen spinach 1 packet, defrosted
- 4 eggs
- 100 g pesto
- 100 g feta crumbled
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 200C (400F). And heat an oven-proof frying pan on a medium high heat. Peel and finely slice onion into 1/2 moons. Add a super generous glug of olive oil to the pan and cook onion, stirring often until soft and golden.
- Remove pan from the heat. Pat the spinach with paper towel or squeeze to remove any extra moisture but don’t stress too much. Stir spinach into the onion. Make 4 little holes for your eggs with a spoon. Crack an egg into each hole.
- Bake eggs, uncovered for 5-10 minutes or until egg whites are set and yolks are still a little runny.
- When eggs are cooked, drizzle pesto over the top and crumble over feta.
WINE MATCH: Maybe not for breakfast (although if you must I recommend a glass of champagne). My choice would be a strong cup of milky tea.
Variations & Substitutions
no oven / no oven-proof pan – just cook everything on the stove top. Add the eggs and cover and cook on a medium heat until egg whites are set – about 5 minutes.
short on time – skip the onion and cook on the stove top as per the note above.
dairy-free / paleo – replace feta with toasted pine nuts, olives or almonds and use a the dairy-free version of my pesto.
carb-lovers – serve with pita or other flat bread or warm tortillas.
more substantial (low carb) – serve with some smashed avocado, pinenuts or extra eggs.
fresh greens – replace frozen spinach with cooked and chopped greens such as kale, collard greens, chard, silverbeet or spinach. Baby spinach is also good (it cab be wilted into the pan after the onions are cooked).
egg-free – serve onions, spinach, feta and pesto with cooked chicken.
carnivore – serve with bacon, chorizo or prosciutto.
Waste Avoidance Strategy
onion – will keep in the pantry for months. Best if in a dark corner in a brown paper bag.
frozen spinach – will keep in the freezer for months.
eggs – will keep in the fridge for weeks or use for another meal.
pesto – commercial jars of pesto will keep for months in the pantry. Fresh pesto will keep in the fridge for a few weeks. Cover with olive oil to prevent exposure to air and browning reactions.
feta – keeps for months unopened in its packet. Or can be frozen. Or you could make a marinated feta by putting it in a super clean jar from the dishwasher and covering with oil and then keeping it in the fridge. Sometimes I like to add flavourings like bay leaves, lemon zest and pepper corns or chilli.
Prepare Ahead
Best when freshly made. Will keep in the fridge for a week or so. Best not to freeze. Leftovers can be eaten warm or at room temperature.
Add to my Old Favourite Recipes
I used only half my remaining pack of frozen spinach (three cheers for the stuff that comes in portions!) plus two zucchini I’d fried earlier, and two capsicum fillets out of a jar. I also used cheddar rather than feta. Good.
I forgot to add that I also used a few cloves of garlic instead of the onion, which I kept forgetting to buy more of the latter, and I think that it was tastier that way. It could have used even more veg though.
Good to know the garlic was better than the onion Mark 🙂
I made it again with cooked broccoli rather than spinach, and cashews and chimmichurri rather than the feta and pesto, just to try a non-dairy option. A bit chunky, but still good.
ooh good idea with the chimmichurri Mark
I made a green and orange one with finely sliced carrot and two zucchini cooked until soft (with lots of garlic which needed using up) and added microwaved peas later because it didn’t seem like a lot of veg, although probably still more than 1 packet of frozen spinach. I also decided that I couldn’t be bothered putting it in the oven, and just kept a lid on the pan until done. For some reason (possibly conductivity) eggs seem to set better when the veg base isn’t too wet. Good.
I like the idea of green and orange – or a rainbow shakshuka Mark 🙂
Maybe some “red” cabbage, but I can’t think of many blue foods that I’d want in the base 😀
Yeah blueberry would be a bit out there 🙂
I’m loving the sound of the cheddar here Mark!
It almost turned it into a pizza. I could imagine putting some pepperoni or bacon on top.
ooh now you’re talking 🙂
I’ve never had or imagined such a dish and think it’s delicious. Thanks Jules.
It’s a middle eastern classic Gay – so glad you enjoyed!
This has become one of my new faves! When I forgot to buy more pesto, I substituted some jarred chimichurri sauce I had in the fridge. It brought a whole new flavor profile to the dish so from now on I plan on having both on hand so I can use either depending on my mood.
Love it JJ!
I actually have some Chimmichurri in the fridge that I need to do something with. Great idea thankyou!