Pan-Fry

Green Shakshuka With Cheese Recipe

by:
July 24, 2019
4.5
6 Ratings
Photo by Rocky Luten (Styled by Anna Billingskog, Props by Brooke Deonarine)
  • Prep time 15 minutes
  • Cook time 35 minutes
  • Serves 4 to 6 for breakfast
Author Notes

Printed with permission from Tel Aviv: Food. People. Stories. A Culinary Journey With NENI: "In Haya's family, shakshuka is always served at Sunday brunch. A large pan of it is placed in the middle of the table and everyone dips crisp bread into the sauce. Haya’s tips: We have made countless shakshuka variations, including a version with chickpeas and eggplant—whatever tastes good is allowed! It is also delicious as leftovers. If you prefer, you can also make the shakshuka in small individual pans." —Food52

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • 100 grams (3 1/2 ounces) leek
  • 30 grams (1 ounce) butter
  • 250 grams (9 ounces) spinach
  • 25 grams (1 ounce) flat-leaf parsley
  • 25 milliliters (3/4 fluid ounce) cream
  • Sea salt
  • 1 small fennel bulb
  • 2 spring onions (scallions)
  • 1 tablespoon olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
  • 50 grams (1 3/4 ounces) Kashkaval, or another kind of mild, full-fat cheese
  • 20 grams (3/4 ounce) Parmesan, plus extra to garnish
  • 6 eggs
  • Sourdough bread, to serve
Directions
  1. Halve the leek lengthways, trim and cut into strips 1 cm (1/2 inch) wide. Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the leek and cook over medium heat until soft, about 15 minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool.
  2. 
Wash spinach and remove the thick stems. Set aside about 50 g (1 3/4 oz) of the leaves. Blanch remaining spinach along with the parsley (with stems) for 10 seconds in boiling, salted water.
 Strain and immediately submerge in ice water. Firmly press to remove all liquid.
  3. 
Purée the leek, spinach-parsley mixture, cream and 75 ml (2 1/2 fl oz) of water with a stick blender or in a blender until creamy. Season to taste with salt.
  4. 
Halve the fennel, remove the stalk and cut the bulb into thin slices. Trim the spring onions and cut in half width-ways.
 Warm olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat, add the spring onions and fennel and sauté very lightly for 3 minutes. Season with salt, transfer to a plate and set aside.
  5. 
Add the remaining spinach and 1-2 tablespoons of water to the same pan. Sprinkle with salt and distribute first the spinach-parsley mixture and then the fennel and spring onions evenly over the spinach. Coarsely grate the Kashkaval cheese and 20 g (3/4 oz) Parmesan and scatter over the vegetables. Using a spoon, make 6 small wells and break 1 egg into each. Salt well, especially the egg yolk, cover and cook for 4-5 minutes. The egg whites should be firm but the yolks still runny (like a poached egg).
  6. Grate extra parmesan over the eggs. Drizzle with olive oil and serve with fresh sourdough bread.

See what other Food52ers are saying.

  • Olivia Noel
    Olivia Noel
  • brushjl
    brushjl
  • Amy
    Amy
  • DocSharc
    DocSharc

5 Reviews

brushjl May 12, 2022
Really good, really fussy. It requires a bunch of pans and ended up being more time consuming than other shakshukas I've made. But the result was delicious and nutritious. Just leave yourself time.
 
Amy March 30, 2022
Not a fan of fennel. Another suggestion?
 
Olivia N. December 4, 2019
Delicious recipe, though the instructions for cooking the eggs were very far off for me. First, the instructions here are vague and don't specify a cooking temperature at all - or even that it should be cooked on the stovetop/oven/etc? I assumed I was to cover the pan and cook on the stovetop over medium heat, although my eggs were completely raw after 5 minutes. I ended up cooking, covered on the stovetop, at least double that time and even finished under the broiler to help.
 
Regine May 1, 2021
I am surprised it took that long to cook your eggs, since the yolks need to stay runny, with only the whites needing to firm up. I would imagine, in a covered pan with enough steam coming from the vegetables, the eggs should cook nicely.
 
DocSharc August 6, 2019
I made this a few nights ago for a somewhat skeptical husband (he had never heard of shakshuka) and 2 toddlers. It was a huge hit! Everyone loved how rich and creamy it was. I loved that the fennel keeps its texture. Thanks for this great recipe! :)