Shake it up, chakchouka

I do most of the cooking in our home. T. wants to learn how to cook more when he's not buried under all of his coursework. Truth be told, I don't really let him cook, which is kind of selfish of me, I know. We have, however, agreed that he can do all of the Chinese-influenced cuisine, because for the life of me I cannot wrap my head around stir fries. As the house vegetarian, he is also in charge of all tofu. Tofu remains a living mystery to me.

Finding ways to balance an omnivore and a herbivore diet in one house is a bit of a challenge. I will pretty much eat anything. When we first met, T. was strictly vegan, on ethical grounds. Of course, as these things go, across our relationship we both drifted to a happier middle place: he now eats some dairy and, once in a while, a few eggs. I eat a lot less meat, and I try to make sure that it is organic and non-factory farmed, though I don't always succeed. Also, when I do eat meat, a lot of it goes straight from my plate to Lizzy, who is unashamed of her carnivorous ways. As she should be.

Eggs are an important meeting place for us; if we can find truly free-range eggs, that is, cage free, grain-fed, and allowed-to-roam eggs, T. will eat them. Yesterday morning, I made one of my favorite breakfasts, chakchouka. Instead of starting from scratch, however, I went the premade route. You want to eat fast when you're hungry, right?

Quick Chakchouka

Olive oil
Trader Joe's red pepper/artichoke antipasto
Mustapha's Moroccan Harissa (must make my own soon)
jar of plain tomato sauce (I used the roasted tomato sauce I put up a few weeks ago)
2 eggs

Heat a small frying pan; add olive oil; when oil shimmers add about a cup of antipasto; simmer for a 90 seconds; add a tablespoon of harissa; simmer for another minute or two; add 1 1/2 cups of tomato sauce; cook it down until the sauce thickens; in the meantime crack two eggs into a glass, leaving yolks intact; when sauce is thick enough use a spoon to make two little round ditches in the sauce; pour one egg into each little ditch; cook until whites are just set, or longer if wished. Serve with good bread and some lamb merguez sausages, for the omnivores.



This is a really great brunch dish, by the way. You can make the sauce ahead of time and then just reheat it and cook the eggs when your guests are ready to eat.