Spinach Shakshuka
I wasn’t going to post today, out of respect for my own appetite and those of my fellow Yom Kippur fasters (I don’t specify “Jews” because many of my non-Jewish friends have joined in this tradition!). But after considering my options, I realized that this recipe exemplifies “break fast,” which is a meal that is gentle on the body and thereby perfect for breaking an overnight fast or in today’s case a 24-hour fast, from sunset to sunset.
Shakshuka is believed to have North African origins and is often seen on breakfast menus (traditionally, you are poaching eggs in the previous night’s leftover sauce) but is also a popular evening meal in Israel and the Arab world. Ten years ago I shared a more traditional shakshuka recipe.
This recipe for Spinach Shakshuka came about exactly how I imagined empty nest dinners would evolve. Scenario: Gary and I woke up on a Sunday morning, having decided the night before that we would make the roundtrip to visit Reed at school. We had nothing pressing on the calendar and we imagined that the day would be as beautiful as the one before (turns out it rained all day). But regardless, with the drive being an easy two hours, combined with the fact that I had three overflowing bags of groceries to deliver and that his Parents’ Weekend isn’t until the first weekend in November (that’s too long to wait to see your first-year!), we hopped into the car.
It was so great to see Reed, meet a bunch of his friends, and expand his radius beyond campus and “The Corner.” If you’re familiar with Charlottesville, we checked out Dairy Market, which is a great food hall housed in the historic Monticello Dairy Building. Starr Hill Brewery anchors the space and there are over a dozen delicious food vendors (I believe all outposts of local restaurants), along with two retailers. We ate big burgers and went on to visit Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall. The last time I was here was over 20 years ago when my brother-in-law was attending UVA Medical School. I’m happy to report that the Downtown Mall is still a vibrant, pedestrian walkway with lots of restaurants, shops and bars, along the way.
Anyway, the moral of the story is that we ate a big lunch, had a great visit and spent the majority of the day in the car. We got home in time for the 4 o’clock football games and settled into the couch. When it was time to think about dinner, I was low on appetite and inspiration. I did have an almost full large plastic tub of baby spinach that was begging to be put into service, so I decided to make a riff on my beloved Shakshuka. I pulled up a recipe from Epicurious to serve as inspiration and took it from there. The following Spinach Shakshuka was flavorful, healthy and hit the spot.
So if bagels are not your thing or if you just want to add something different to your break fast this evening, this one’s for you. May you have an easy fast.
Spinach Shakshuka
Ingredients
- 3 Tbls olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion finely chopped
- 1 jalapeno, seeded for more mild or with seeds for heat finely chopped
- 4 cloves garlic finely chopped
- 1/4 tsp ground coriander
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp kosher salt
- 10 oz baby spinach
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes
- 1 Tbls fresh lemon juice
- 4-6 eggs
- freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 c goat cheese crumbled
- roughly chopped fresh cilantro, dill or parsley for garnish, optional
- 2-4 toasted pitas for serving
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large pan set over medium heat. Add the onion and jalapeño and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic, coriander, cinnamon, and salt, and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the spinach, tomatoes and lemon juice to the pan, turn the heat to low, cover, and cook, tossing occasionally, until the spinach and tomatoes are very soft, 7 to 10 minutes.
- Uncover and evenly spread the mixture across the bottom of the pan. Use the back of the spoon to make four to six shallow indentations in the surface of the greens mixture to hold the eggs while they cook.
- Break the eggs into the indentations. Raise the heat to medium, cover the pan , and cook until the whites are set but the yolks are still a bit runny, 4 to 5 minutes. If you check and the whites are still not set, carefully spoon a bit of the spinach mixture over the whites. You want them cooked but keep in mind that the eggs will continue to cook in your bowl due to the residual heat and you want your yolks runny (unless you don't!).
- Remove the pan from the heat. Sprinkle with ground pepper, goat cheese, and herbs, if using. Serve hot, directly from the pan with toasted pita for dipping.