Shakshuka and Homemade Pita

There's nothing better on a dreary morning than a hot bowl of shakshuka and warm homemade pita for breakfast.

Shakshuka and pita

Shakshuka is an Israeli dish consisting of poached eggs in a spicy tomato sauce. I never thought of tomato and eggs going well together (though Dan eats his eggs with ketchup--yuk!), but Smitten Kitchen, one of my favorite food blogs, had me drooling and practically running to the store to get the necessary ingredients. That was two years ago and I haven't looked back since.

If you're going to make shakshuka though, you must have pita. I used to buy the fluffiest, most delicious pita from the kosher store near my house in DC. Unfortunately, I'm thousands of miles away from that store and the pitas in Harrogate leave something to be desired. I found a recipe for pitas in a cookbook; I cannot believe how easy it is! I'm not sure I can ever buy them again!

Here are both recipes. Enjoy!

Recipe adapted just barely from here.

Shakshuka

Makes 4 servings

Ingredients

• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3 jalapeños (I always want it spicier and forget to increase the heat--next time I'm using 4)
• 1 small yellow onion, diced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 28 ounces crushed or diced tomatoes (I used canned)
• 1/2 cup water
• Kosher salt, to taste
• 4 eggs
• 1/2 cup feta, crumbled
• 1 tablespoon flat-leaf parsley or cilantro
• Warm pitas (see recipe below)

Directions

1. Heat oil in a medium pot over medium-high heat. Add jalapeños and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden brown, about 6 minutes. Add garlic, cumin and paprika; cook, stirring frequently, for another minute.
2. Add tomatoes and water. Reduce heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally until thickened slightly, about 15 minutes. Season with salt. I like to leave my shakshuka overnight to develop more intense flavors, but you can eat it immediately as well.
3. Poach eggs separately. Spoon shakshuka into bowls, add two eggs in each, sprinkle with feta and parsley/cilantro and serve with warm pita.

Recipe from Leah Schapira's Fresh and Easy cookbook.

Homemade Pitas

Makes 8 pitas

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 teaspoons dry yeast
• 1 1/4 cups warm water
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 3 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 tablespoons oil

Directions

1. In a mixing bowl, place yeast, water and sugar. Add the four and mix for 30 seconds. Add salt and oil. Mix on medium speed for 8-10 minutes. If the dough looks too dry, add up to an additional 1/4 cup of water (I've never had to add extra water).
2. Lightly coat a bowl with oil and place the dough inside. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap or a damp towel. Let rise 1 1/2 hours. 
3. When the dough has doubled, punch down and divide dough into 8 pieces. Roll each part into a ball and cover with plastic wrap or a damp towel. Let rest for 20 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, center a rack in the oven and insert an inverted baking sheet or pizza stone (I use a pizza stone and it works great!). Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F.
5. Lightly coat your working surface with flour. Using a rolling pin, roll out the balls of dough to 6-inch circles (mine never stay as circles, but it's OK). Lightly dust both sides with flour. If you have trouble rolling out the dough, let it rest an additional 10-minutes and try again. Cover the dough circles until ready to bake so they don't dry out.
6. Throw 2 ice cubes into the bottom of the oven. Place 2-3 dough circles in the oven. Bake for 4 minutes. Pita should puff up. Remove carefully and let cool. Repeat with remaining dough.