Recipe: My super-duper shakshuka!

Shakshuka is one of my favourite meals because it is...

• A classic winter warmer 
• Light on carbs and calories 
• Quick
• Easy 
• You can make it super spicy
• It involves poached eggs (I love eggs, which is a bit selfish of me considering my fiancé is allergic to them!)
• You can add lots of basil (I love/am obsessed with basil too)

I experimented this evening and added some frozen peas & chickpeas and it was peautiful! (Sorry, had to do it.) These are optional, so don't add them if you don't fancy them. The amount of spice also depends on your heat threshold, I like my food spicy so I added quite a lot. Because this dish is so fast and easy, you can just experiment with it and see what tickles your fancy. 

To make this dish, you will need:

• A tablespoon of olive oil 
• Half a red onion diced
• A couple of crushed garlic cloves
• Half a red pepper, either sliced or diced 
• One red chili pepper diced 
• A handful of frozen peas
• Half a tin of drained chick peas (approx 120g)
• Half a tin (approx 200g) of chopped tomatoes
• Two tablespoons of tomato purée
• One tablespoon of paprika
• Half a tablespoon of chilli powder (add more if you like spice)
• Half a tablespoon of cayenne pepper (again, add more if you like spice)
• Half a tablespoon of ground cumin
• Salt (onion salt works well) and pepper to season
• Two tablespoons of chopped basil (frozen basil works just as well)
• Two eggs
• Fresh parsley to garnish

Firstly, heat a medium-sized pan and pour a tablespoon of olive oil in. Add the diced onion, pepper and chili pepper, followed by the garlic. Keep the temperature to a medium heat and add the chickpeas and frozen peas. Cook them for around 5 minutes. 

Stir in the chopped tomatoes, add the spices and the chopped basil, then add the tomato purée before letting it simmer for another 5 minutes. Season the dish with salt and pepper, then carefully crack the eggs over the top of it. Cover it and let it cook for around 8 to 10 minutes, depending on the size of the eggs. Keep an eye on it though, you want the yolks to be yummy and runny! When the eggs are ready, dish up, sprinkle some parsley over it, probably take a photo for Instagram and enjoy! x