Moroccan Eggs

Those of you who follow my Facebook or Instagram pages will already be well aware (read – bored of me prattling on about the fact) that I was in London for a month. Hence the lack of blog posts. The last morning I was there I went to Berner’s Tavern for a very special last brunch. If you ever get a chance to go there, do. It’s a real treat, a feast for the eyes and the tastebuds. I had the Moroccan Eggs there and I couldn’t wait to try to recreate them at home.

Any regular readers of the blog will know that I am big fan of the combination of eggs, tomatoes and chilli. You’ll have seen my earlier posts for Huevos Rancheros and Eggs in Purgatory. This spice in this dish is not really hot, it is more of a warm layer of spices. And I don’t just confine these dishes to breakfast or brunch, they are great as a quick midweek meal in the evenings.

Useful tips & links:

• This recipe will produce more sauce than you will need if making for 2 people. Save the leftover sauce in an airtight container for a few days in the fridge or you can freeze it.
• I have used harissa and ras el hanout to flavour this tomato sauce. Both are now available in most good supermarkets. You can make your own harissa following the link. If you don’t have ras el hanout, add extra cumin, along with a little pinch of ground coriander, ginger and cinnamon. Just add a little at a time until you get a flavour you are happy with. You can just use all harissa if you like but bear in mind that the heat of the pastes vary so make sure you don’t make it too hot.
• Bulk this up by adding bacon, chorizo or even avocado or feta.
• For more egg, tomato and spice inspiration, have a look at Ethna’s Tomato, Chilli and Chorizo Baked Eggs.

Moroccan Eggs

Serves 2

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp. of olive oil
• ½ red onion, finely diced
• A small clove of garlic, crushed
• 1 heaped tsp of harissa paste
• 1 heaped tsp of ras el hanout
• 1 tsp of ground cumin
• ¼ tsp of smoked paprika
• 1 x 400g tin of chopped tomatoes
• A pinch of sugar
• The grated zest of ½ a small lemon
• 4 eggs
• Greek or natural yogurt
• Fresh coriander leaves to garnish

Method:

• Heat the olive oil in a medium sized pan over a low-medium heat. Cook the diced onions with a pinch of salt, and allow them to sweat until they are soft but not coloured.
• Add the garlic and cook for another minute. Then add the harissa, ras el hanout, cumin and paprika and stir until the onions and garlic are coated.
• Pour in the tin of tomatoes along with a pinch of sugar and increase the heat. When the tomatoes start to bubble, reduce the heat to low and allow it to simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. If you want the sauce to thicken and reduce, leave it uncovered while it simmers.
• When the tomato sauce is cooked, taste it and add the lemon zest and seasoning as needed. Take it off the heat to allow it to cool slightly.
• Heat some sunflower oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and break in your eggs. Allow them to fry gently just so that the white sets but they don’t go brown or become crispy at all. To help the whites cook spoon over some of the hot oil while they fry.
• Serve two eggs per plate. Then spoon over some of the tomato sauce. Garnish with fresh coriander leaves and dot a little of the yogurt on top. Sprinkle a little smoked paprika over the yogurt and eggs.
• Serve immediately with some toast to mop up the leftover sauce.