Championing great ingredients and the importance of provenance, Ben Quinn shares three recipes from his new, self-published book Good Value Food with Good Values.
SERVES 4
INGREDIENTS:
Items 1:
3 garlic cloves
1 hot chilli (whole)
Items 2:
2tbsp tomato puree
400g chopped tomatoes (tinned ideally)
1tsp harissa paste
Items 3:
200ml water
1tbsp sugar
1tsp salt
50ml cider vinegar
Items 4:
4 eggs
Nice bread, to serve
Jon Mackenzie
METHOD
Use a frying pan that will fit all the ingredients. Heat the pan and add the vegetable oil, when it’s hot but not smoking, add Items 1. Fry the garlic until golden and the room smells amazing.
Next, add Items 2. Fry out/boil the mixture. If it catches here and there that is good, just scrape it off with a wooden spoon. It’s those gnarly bits that make real flavour.
Add Items 3 and reduce to a calm simmer. Taste. Adjust seasoning to taste.
Next make four wells in the sauce with the spoon and crack the eggs one at a time into each one. Put a ‘lid’ over the pan. Something like a baking sheet will do the job.
Poach/steam the eggs until the white is cooked but the yolk is still soft. Finally, put the pan in the middle of the table with torn up bread, and let everyone get into it!
Tips
You can finish the Shakshuka with tahini, chilli or roughly chopped herbs.
A great alternative to eggs – some crumbled feta!
Extracted from Good Value Food with Good Values by Ben Quinn, Jon Mckenzie and Jon Herbert.