You wake up, you’re tired. Well maybe you aren’t, but I am and I can’t be alone in this feeling…right readers?  On the weekends I often feel like getting up and making breakfast is just too much, can’t I just stay in bed and have Charles (the butler I wish I had) bring me breakfast in bed, Downton Abby style? I mean life is taxing and you are hitting it hard.  Between work, family, obligations, friends, the gym and the home, finding time to make a healthy meal can often feel like panning for gold in the Mississippi, i.e. almost impossible.  So you often fall back on your go-tos; you know, things you make all the time.  Go-tos are a great thing, but go-to them too much and you can get palate fatigue.  You’ve got to spice things up!  Do something different, look outside the box or look to Marcella Rose’s! Well, if Sunday breakfast has you bored, do I have a new breakfast dish for you.  Shakshuka.  It’s fun to say right? Shakshuka!  Well it’s even more fun to make and by fun I mean easy, like crazy easy. Plus it’s insanely delicious and you can probably make it right now with ingredients you already have on-hand.  Some recipes of this dish call for crusty bread which is amazing for scooping up the heavy caramelized sauce but if you’re gluten free it’s amazing by the spoonful or with warm corn tortillas.  Shakshuka recipes often call for feta or goat cheese but really any cheese you have on hand will do, you can make it simple with salt and pepper or you can add spices to take the flavor through the roof.  Again my recipe is below, but play around and make it your own! I always feel it best to break all the rules in the kitchen.  It’s the one safe place to do it right?  Your Le Creuset pan can’t really fire you now can it?  Your olive oil won’t give you a ticket now will it?  So have some fun, spice it up, shake it off, or rather Shakshuka it off, and trust me you will feel like jumping out of bed to make this breakfast.

You will need

• 3-5 cloves minced garlic – depending on how Italian you are…if you are Sicilian add some more
• 1 onion diced
• 3 glugs olive oil
• 1 quart jar of stewed tomatoes (plus the juice)
• 5 eggs – or more if you have a bigger pan or more mouths to feed
• Feta (optional)
• Flat leaf parsley chopped – about 3 tablespoons (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• Spices – I used a middle eastern blend of a  parsley, fennel, garlic, sweet paprika and other spices

How to

• Heat a pan over medium high heat and add olive oil
• Sauté your onion until translucent; about 4 minutes
• Add garlic, stirring to avoid it burning, until fragrant; about 1 minute
• Dump in tomatoes and juice, smashing the tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon
• Add spices (if using), salt and pepper then stir to incorporate
• Allow the mixture to simmer until the juice cooks down and you have a thick sauce; about 5 minutes
• Crack your eggs directly into the tomato mixture and cover with a lid
• Cook eggs until yolks are soft but still runny; about 3 minutes
• Top with cheese and parsley
• Dig in

Shakshuka for everyone!

Marcella Rose