Recipe | Shakshouka Avocado and Pomegranate

by O’Pulence MTL 

 


 

The shakshuka dish is a flavorful sauce made with tomatoes, onions, bell peppers, garlic, and spices like cumin and chili. Very popular In the Middle Eastern and European cooking. It typically features poached eggs, but here you will find another version of it that is an absolutely delicious and easy twist. Serve it whichever way you like but below you will see the way I make it for my clients, with all the fixings 

Ingredients for 4 people 🙂

  • 2 cups Chickpeas (Dry 150gr, soak overnight)
  • 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 cup chopped yellow onion
  • 1 red bell pepper, stemmed, seeded, and diced
  • ¼ teaspoon sea salt, plus more to taste
  • Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
  • 3 garlic cloves, minced
  • 2 teaspoon smoked paprika
  • 2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1 1/2 tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 jalapeños stemmed, seeded, and  small diced
  • 2 (796 ml) can peeled prune and crush the tomatoes using blender or hands
  • 1 cup  springs parsley, all chopped stems as well

Garnishes 

  • 6 spring of coriander, remove leafs, set aside and chop stems and add with parsley)
  • 1 avocado (quartered)
  • 1 pomegranate (take seed out)

Instructions

  • Heat the oil over medium heat in a 12-inch lidded stainless steel or enamel-coated cast-iron skillet. Add the onion, salt, a pinch of fresh pepper and cook until the onion is soft and translucent, 6 to 8 minutes. Then add red pepper and cook for 3-4 min.
  • Reduce the heat to medium-low and add the fresh garlic, paprika and cumin. Stir and let cook for about 30-60 seconds to release all the fragrance of the spices. Next,  add the tomatoes, parsley and jalapeños. Simmer for 15-30 minutes until the sauce has thickened
  • Season with salt and pepper to taste and sprinkle the top with coriander, avocado and pomegranate.
Notes
*Canned chickpeas can  be substituted, but add only last 5 minutes of cooking 
**I used jalapeños  in this recipe, but you are welcome to use fresh chili or habanero 🙂
***You can replace the canned tomatoes by fresh ripe 15-20 Roma tomatoes and add tomato purée to make the 6 cups
****Cooking options: You can also cook everything in a pan in the oven at 350F for 30 min and replace chickpeas with eggs by making little ponds in the Shakshuka to place them prior to putting in the over.