Shakshouka

I am not Jewish, in case you were wondering. But I have lately developed a palate for Jewish cooking, having read a really awesome profile of Claudia Rosen in the New Yorker and several of Rosen's cookbooks (I know that this is a fairly narrow view). One dish that I've been making a lot is shakshouka (the spelling varies, sometimes it's "shakshuka," sometimes "chakchouka"). It is a vegetarian's delight--eggs poached in a slow-cooked tomato, pepper (which I prefer to nix), and onion base (and to please a vegan I read somewhere that you can use tofu instead). It's also one of those dishes for which most people who do a moderate amount of cooking will have all the ingredients on hand. And it's fortifying and soul enriching and worldly (for an Idaho boy) and the aroma suggests all of the above. I tried it first at 12 Chairs Cafe on MacDougal Street and have made it several times since then. I'm including my recipe below.

Shakshouka
Serves 2

2 T olive oil
1 large white onion, diced
3 cloves garlic, crushed and roughly chopped
6 roma tomatoes, roughly chopped
1 med. can tomatoes
1 T tomato paste (or sun-dried tomato paste)
1 t red pepper flakes
1 t sweet paprika
1/2 t brown sugar
1/2 - 1 t salt
4 eggs

Heat oil over medium heat in a moderately deep, wide skillet or other stove-top safe pan. Add the onions and cook for 15-20 minutes, until they are quite colored but not carmelized. Add the garlic. Pass the fresh and canned tomatoes through a food mill so that they end up fairly pureed and removed of peel, and then add to onions. (Alternatively, and I've done this before and it works, you can peel the fresh tomatoes by dipping them in hot water and then work them through a box grater to stimulate the effect; you'll then just mix this with the canned tomatoes, which you'd have purchased peeled and chopped.) Add the tomato paste, red pepper flakes, paprika, brown sugar, and salt and bring to an active bubble. Lower the heat and cover except for a crack through which the steam can exit. Let cook for a half hour or so--it should reduce a bit and the flavors meld.

When the sauce is ready and "simmering," it's time to poach the eggs. This next procedure is something I discovered on my own and am very proud of: Take a medium-sized ladle, make an indention into the sauce, crack the egg directly into the ladle, and then rotate the ladle by slipping it out beneath the egg so that the egg is left in the indentation where the ladle once was. Hope this makes sense. Follow the same procedure for the other three eggs. With a fork or paring knife, break all the yolks. Cover, and let poach for 8 minutes or so, until desired doneness is reached.

Divide the eggs and sauce evenly into bowls. Sprinkle with cilantro if trying to impress. Serve with bread.

Note: If there's a lot of sauce left over, this is good served cold with hard-boiled eggs.