Matbukha and Shakshuka

[When it comes to Moroccan dishes, there is hardly anyone who can come up to the level of Lévana Kirschenbaum. If you get the impression that The Kosher Scene looks up to her, well… having attended so many of her Monday night cooking demos, we truly do! Last Friday we posted 3 recipes for Shakshouka, frankly, that series could not possibly be complete without Lévana’s take on the subject. CS]

Photo by: http://www.theglobaljewishkitchen.com/2010/07/21/sephardic-turkish-salad/

Cooked tomato salad: Matbukha

Gluten Free, Pareve

This is one of our Moroccan favorite dishes, a sort of comfort food for ex-pats and honorary Sephardis alike: See how they mop that sauce with their bread! Shakshuka is nothing more than Matbukha with eggs scrambled into it and served as a main course, and gets its funny name from the Arabic word for “scramble.” Sometimes tomatoes get too expensive; in this case, it would be OK to use canned diced tomatoes.

Ingredients

• 1 whole head garlic
• 2 red bell peppers, washed, cored, and seeded
• 2–3 jalapeño peppers
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 large beefsteak tomatoes, or 8 plum tomatoes, diced small (settle for 1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes, liquid and all)
• ½ cup olive oil
• 2 tablespoons paprika
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• Salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 425°F.
2. Slice about ¼ inch off the pointed end of the head of garlic, leaving the cloves exposed.
3. Drizzle the olive oil onto the garlic and the peppers, place them on a cookie sheet, and roast for 30 minutes, or until the garlic is soft and the peppers are charred (the peppers might be ready a few minutes before the garlic).
4. Press the cloves out of their skins while still warm and mash with a fork.
5. Peel the peppers and cut them into thin strips.
6. In a heavy wide-bottom pot, bring the tomatoes, oil, and paprika to a boil.
7. Reduce the heat to medium, add the roasted garlic and peppers, and cook covered for about 30 minutes, stirring frequently. All of the water should evaporate, and the oil will resurface (if you neglect this step, you will not get the desired look and texture but a glorified tomato sauce).
8. Add the freshly minced garlic and the salt and pepper to taste.
9. Let cool and store in a glass jar in the refrigerator. Use a slotted spoon to serve so the oil stays behind. This will keep for up to two weeks.

Variation: Shakshuka

Gluten Free, Pareve

Stir 8 eggs into the Matbukha, mixing thoroughly with a wooden spoon, and cook just a few more minutes until the eggs are barely set. If you would rather end up with a more pristine look, leave the eggs whole, break them one by one, and set them over the mixture, close but not touching, and cook covered on a low flame until they look barely set.

Serve hot, alone, or with a good whole-grain bread, or on a bed of cooked (canned OK) white beans (except on Passover!).

Makes 8 servings.

CS

Shakshuka

When I lived in Israel, I discovered the Sephardic cuisine. Growing up in Uruguay, I had occasional eaten over by some of my Sefaradi friends but never encountered most of the delicacies I found in the Holy Land. One of this discoveries was Shakshouka, therefore I felt compelled to scour the web in search of easy recipes for it.

What is Shakshouka, you ask? Wikipedia describes it as:

Photo from: Wikipedia

Shakshouka (Arabic: شكشوكة‎; Hebrew: שקשוקה‎) (also shakshuka, shaqshuqa) is a dish from Maghreb consisting of eggs cooked in a sauce of tomatoes, peppers, onions, and spices (often including cumin, turmeric, and chillies), and usually served with white bread.

[..] Shakshouka is now a staple of Tunisian, Algerian, Egyptian, Moroccan, Somali, and Yemeni cuisines, and is also popular in Israel, where it was introduced by Tunisian Jews.

And here is the Wikibooks recipe for Shakshouka:

Ingredients

• 6 tablespoons of frying olive oil
• One tablespoon of sweet paprika
• 6 cloves of garlic finely chopped
• One large sweet red pepper diced
• One Chili pepper (red or green) diced
• 6 ripe tomatoes diced
• Ground fresh black pepper
• Salt to taste
• 6 eggs

Procedure

1. On a high flame, heat the oil for about half a minute.
2. Add the paprika and blend well.
3. Add the garlic and peppers, and turn to low flame. Cook for about ten minutes – until the peppers have slightly softened.
4. Add the tomatoes and spice it with salt and pepper and then blend it.
5. Bring it to a boil, taste it and if necessary – add spices to get the taste refined.
6. Makes six dents in the mixture. Into each dent put an egg yolk, and spread the egg whites around.
7. Continue to cook on low until the egg whites have coagulated.
8. Serve the Shakshouka with black bread and fresh parsley.

From the Spanish language blog: Absolut Marruecos, we bring you this authentic Morrocan recipe:

Photo by: Absolut Marruecos

shakshuka con huevos

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
  
• 1 grated onion
  
• 7 ounces water
• 36 ounces tomatoes, chopped
• 2 tablespoons rice
• 1 tablespoon parsley
• 1 tablespoon green pepper, chopped
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 5 eggs

Directions

1. Sauté onion in very hot oil until just golden.
2. In a pot add the water, tomatoes, let it boil for 5 minutes.
3. In a separate pot cook the rice.
4. Add the parsley, salt, pepper and green pepper.
5. Carefully break the eggs one at a time and drop on the tomato pot.
6. Cook for about 40 minutes on medium flame.

When Mia Cooks, adds an interesting variation:

Photo by: http://when-mia-cooks.blogspot.com/

Ingredients

• 1 small red onion, chopped
• 2 tbsp chopped bell pepper
• 4 to 5 large ripe tomatoes, chopped
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 cup veg broth
• 1/4 cup peas
• 1/4 cup corn
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 tsp chilli powder
• salt to taste
• coriander/cilantro leaves
• Vegetable oil

Actually, it’d be better if you boil the tomatoes and then peel and chop them. But I forgot….heck, ok, I was too lazy.

1. In a pan, heat a tbsp of vegetable oil.
2. Add the chopped onions and bell pepper and saute for a few minutes.
3. Add the tomato paste, chopped tomatoes and veg broth.
4. Add the peas and corn as well. Season with salt and chilli powder.
5. Simmer and allow to cook till the corn and peas are cooked and there’s some liquid left.
6. Break the eggs into the base.
7. Break the yolks with a spoon, cover and simmer. If you like your eggs runny, remove it well under a minute. I don’t, so i let it cook for 2 minutes till it firmed up. Add chopped cilantro and serve with bread.

Enjoy gentle reader, enjoy!

CS