Shakshuka

Method

1. Halve the onion and slice it thinly. Remove the seeds and white ribs from the bell pepper and chili and cut them into strips 1 cm wide. Slice the garlic thinly. Chop the tomatoes into 1 cm pieces, keeping all their juice. Chop the parsley.

2. Heat the olive oil in a 24 cm frying pan with a lid over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for 5 min, stirring now and then, until soft and translucent but not browned.

   Add in this stepOlive oil 2 tbspOnion 1

   medium heat

3. Add the bell pepper and chili and cook over medium heat for 7 min, stirring occasionally, until the peppers are soft and have a few golden spots at the edges.

   Add in this stepRed or green bell pepper 1½Long mild green chili 1

   medium heat

4. Turn down to medium-low heat. Add the garlic, tomato paste, harissa, cumin, caraway and paprika and stir for 1 min, until fragrant and the paste turns a deep brick red. Keep stirring so the spices don't burn.

   Add in this stepGarlic cloves 2Tomato paste 1 tbspHarissa (North African chili paste) 1 tspGround cumin ½ tspGround caraway ½ tspSweet paprika 1 tsp

   medium-low heat

5. Add the tomatoes, salt and water and bring to a bubble over medium-high heat, then turn down to medium-low heat and simmer uncovered for 12 min, stirring now and then. The sauce is ready when it is thick and a spoon dragged across the bottom leaves a trail for about a second. Taste and add salt or harissa if needed.

   Add in this stepRipe tomatoes (or canned chopped tomatoes) 450 gSalt 0.6 tspWater 60 ml

   medium-high heat→medium-low heat

6. With the back of a spoon, make 4 small wells in the sauce and crack an egg into each (crack each one into a cup first so you can fish out any shell). Sprinkle a pinch of salt on the whites, cover and cook over low heat for 6 min, until the whites are opaque and set but the yolks still wobble.

   Add in this stepEggs 4Salt ¼ tsp

   low heat

7. Turn off the heat, scatter with parsley and take the pan straight to the table. Serve with bread for scooping up the sauce and yolks.

   Add in this stepFlat-leaf parsley 2 tbspBaguette or other crusty bread ½