Winter is a lovely season filled with delicious recipes, ones which are sure to make your mouth water. For the new year, hearty and warm dishes are sure to keep the chill away and the conversation flowing. Nice meals with your loved ones are important, whether in the morning or in the evening!
Shakshouka
Perfect for either a breakfast or an end of day meal, Shakshouka is a delicious dish for the entire family. You can prepare it in around half an hour and cook it in just as long. For this dish, you’ll need a multitude of vegetables and other ingredients:
- 1 red pepper (diced)
- 1 onion (finely diced)
- 1 green pepper (diced)
- 800g of tomatoes
- 6 garlic cloves (crushed)
- 4 tablespoons of olive oil
- ½ tablespoons of cumin seeds
- 2 tablespoons of paprika
- ½ to 1 tablespoon of cayenne pepper
- 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons of sugar
- 8 free range eggs
- Bunch of coriander for garnish
Start by heating the olive oil over a medium heat in a frying pan and adding the finely diced onion. Cook the onion until it’s golden and then add the diced green and red peppers. Make sure you fry them until they are soft before you add the garlic and the spices. Cook everything for a few minutes before moving on to the next step.
Add the tomatoes and mash them, and then add the sugar to bring to a boil. Turn the heat to low and let your cooking simmer for 30 minutes. After seasoning and tasting, add more cayenne to taste.
To add the eggs, make divots in the sauce and break the eggs in the divots. Lightly season them and turn the heat as low as you can. Cook for around 10 minutes until the eggs are set and serve. Sprinkle with coriander for garnish.
Matbucha
The intoxicating smell of pepper and garlic always fills the house after cooking Matbucha. Perfect for an evening meal, you can cook this wonderful dish with these ingredients:
- 3 garlic cloves (finely sliced)
- 3 red peppers (cut into 2cm pieces and without seeds)
- 3 Romano peppers (cut into 2cm pieces and without seeds)
- 5 tablespoons of rapeseed oil
- ½ tablespoon of ground and toasted cumin seeds
- 1 tablespoon of sweet paprika
- Salt to taste
- 400g of tomatoes (chopped)
Heat a frying pan over medium-low heat and add the rapeseed oil. Next, add the peppers and a pinch of salt. Let the peppers cook until they become soft, for around 35 to 40 minutes.
Stir in the garlic and the cumin for around 2 minutes and then add the tomatoes. Let it simmer for around 30 minutes until the colour becomes darker.
Add a bit more salt, to taste, and the paprika. Let it simmer for 10 more minutes, seasoning to taste, and serve either hot or cold.
Visiting the Middle East is sure to let you taste these amazing dishes, so feel free to get in touch with us. Our friendly team is always happy to help!