Leftover Shakshuka with Potatoes

Shakshuka. Say it with me Shak (Shahk). Shuka (Shookah). What is it? A fabulously flavorful, spicy, easy egg dish from Israel that can be eaten for breakfast, lunch *or* dinner. Eggs are poached in a zesty tomato and vegetable sauce and it is usually served with warm, fresh pita or crusty bread. I’ve known I wanted to try it since I first heard of it on Cutthroat kitchen. The camera closeup was of a cast iron pan filled with a chunky red sauce and dotted with perfectly poached eggs; I was intrigued.
After cooking a friend’s excellent recipe for Croatian Chicken Paprikash I was left with a lot of the wonderful sauce (through no fault of the recipe; I just fudged the amount of chicken to use since I like to use a different cut in my stews than her recipe recommends). I couldn’t bear to throw out so much excellent, savory flavor so I decided to add just a few ingredients and turn it into Shakshuka. I added potatoes to my Paprikash and they were full of flavor; a great starch for the Shakshuka. If you make Chicken Paprikash on Friday you can plan on incorporating the leftover sauce into a Shakshuka on Saturday morning for an easy, delicious breakfast. If you like egg dishes and savory breakfast, I highly recommend trying Shakshuka.

Shakshuka

Serves 3

1 quart leftover sauce from Chicken Paprikash*
2 (15 ounce) cans chopped tomatoes
6 eggs
2 teaspoons cumin
Salt, to taste
Pepper, to taste

Garnish:
Chopped Italian Parsley
Feta Cheese

1. In a broad saucepan combine Paprikash sauce, cumin and chopped tomatoes. Bring to a lazy boil over medium heat and cook for 10 - 15 minutes, to thicken sauce.
2. Crack eggs in one by one, up to five around the edges of the pan and one in the center. Cover, reduce heat to low and cook for 2 - 3 minutes for poached eggs and up to 10 minutes for hard boiled eggs.
Serve garnished with generous helpings of minced parsley and feta cheese.



*I like to add potatoes to my chicken paprikash. 2 large russet potatoes, scrubbed and chopped into roughly 1” pieces; they go into the stew when the liquid does.