Dinner Tonight: Eggs in Spicy Minted Tomato Sauce

Quick? Relatively cheap? Super flavorful? Suitable for consumption at any time of day? Check check check check.

This riff on shashuka, a classic Israeli dish, really does tick all those boxes and then some. It's empowering, because it proves you can whip up a nutritious and satisfying meal with a virtually empty cupboard. It's interactive, because you can all eat from the same skillet, should you have sufficient desire/insufficient dinnerware. It's a gateway to creativity, because while a bowl and a hunk of bread certainly do the trick, it can be served any which way: over greens, under a dollop of ricotta or yogurt, or bulked up with beans or grains. Whether you’re making this for dinner or brunch or second dinner, the base combination of runny yolks and spicy tomato sauce is always a welcome one.

Grocery List:
(Organized by area of the market)

• 1 jalapeño pepper
• Fresh mint
• 4 eggs
• Crusty bread, for serving

We’re assuming you already have butter, olive oil, an onion, garlic, hot sauce, a bay leaf, and a 28-ounce can of crushed tomatoes. If not, add those to your list!

The Game Plan:

About 35 minutes before dinner, seed and chop your jalapeño, onion, and 3 to 4 cloves of garlic. Heat butter and olive oil in a large skillet, then sauté the onion for about 5 minutes. Add in the jalapeño and garlic, sauté a minute more, then add tomatoes, a dash (or more) of hot sauce, and the bay leaf. Leave to simmer until it’s thickened—25ish minutes.

Once the sauce has thickened up, chop a tablespoon of fresh mint and scatter in, then make 4 little egg-sized depressions in the sauce. Carefully crack an egg into each depression, sprinkle on some salt and pepper, and cook the eggs to your liking.

Serve straight from the pan with plenty of bread.

You can see the full recipe here.

What's your favorite multi-tasking dinner? Tell us in the comments!