James May's shakshuka
Former Top Gear presenter James May has swapped driving for dining!
Ahead of his new cooking show and recipe book, Oh Cook! James is whipping up his easy one-skillet Middle Eastern dish shakshuka - proving you don’t need to be a top chef to make a delicious meal.
Shakshuka
Prep time: 15 minutes
Cooking time: 30 minutes
Ingredients
1 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 red pepper, seeded and diced
2 tsp smoked paprika
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder (or more if feeling cocky)
400g can whole peeled tomatoes
4 large eggs
salt and pepper, to taste
Small handful coriander, chopped
Method
1. In a deep frying pan, heat the oil and sweat the onions and pepper for around five minutes, or until the onion is translucent
2. Add the spices and garlic and cook for a couple more minutes
3. Now add the tomatoes. Squash them down in the pan and mix them well with the other bits. Simmer gently for 15 minutes.
4. Now, with a large spoon, make four hollows at the points of the compass in the mixture. Crack an egg into each one. Cover the pan (ideally with the lid) and cook for five to eight minutes, depending on how runny you want the eggs. They are poaching in the juice, and lid-on, lid-off management is key to cooking the bottoms and tops of the eggs equally.
5. Finish with a scattering of chopped coriander. Serve with toast fingers for dipping, or flatbread. Nice eaten straight out of the pan.