What to eat this weekend: Shakshouka and flatbreads

Shakshouka & Flatbreads
Serves 4

Ingredients

• 40ml olive oil
  
• 2 red onions, peeled and sliced
  
• 2 red peppers, de-seeded and diced
  
• 100g chorizo, peeled and cut into 1cm cubes
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tbsp tomato purée
• 2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
• 250g self-raising flour, plus a little extra for dusting
• 8 eggs
• 1 small bunch of fresh parsley, roughly chopped

Method

1. Heat half the oil in a large, high-sided frying pan over a medium heat. When hot, add the onions, red pepper and chorizo and gently fry for about 8 minutes, or until the vegetables are softening and the chorizo is releasing its red oil. Turn up the heat a little and add the cumin and tomato purée and continue to fry, stirring regularly, for 2 minutes.
2. Stir in the tomatoes. Half fill one of the empty tins with water and add this, too. Bring the mixture up to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes, or until the sauce has thickened a little and the vegetables are nice and tender.
3. Whilst the shakshouka is simmering away, make the flatbreads by mixing together the flour, about 125ml of water and a good pinch of salt, until you reach a soft dough. Knead for 2 minutes and then divide the mix into 6 smallish balls. Dust a surface with flour and roll out each ball until it is about – cm thick. Don’t worry about the shape, concentrate on reaching an even thickness. When all the balls are rolled out, heat a griddle pan or heavy-based frying pan over a high heat and lightly brush the breads with a little of the remaining oil.
4. When the pan is hot, dry fry the flatbreads for 2 minutes on each side. Remove to a plate and keep warm. When the shakshouka has had its 10 minutes, use a spoon to prod 8 hollows into the mix and crack an egg into each one. Place a lid quickly on top (use a baking tray or large plate if you don’t have a lid) and cook for 4 minutes.
5. Just before serving with the flatbreads, season the shakshouka with salt and pepper and scatter with the parsley.

Extracted from Save Money Good Food by Rob Allison (Hodder & Stoughton). Photograph by Dan Jones.