Sweet potato shakshuka with sriracha butter

A far cry from a classic shakshuka, yes, but we’ve found that sweet potatoes provide just the right amount of moisture and heft to serve as a base for these eggs.

Credit: Ottolenghi Test Kitchen

• serves

  4

• prep

  20 minutes

• cook

  1:20 hour

• difficulty

  Easy

Serve this vibrant dish as a weekend brunch; it sure looks the part.

Ingredients

• 1 kg sweet potatoes, skin on and scrubbed clean
• 1 small red onion, thinly sliced into rounds (100 g)
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 150 g mature cheddar, roughly grated
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tsp cumin seeds, roughly crushed with mortar and pestle
• 8 medium eggs
• 25 g unsalted butter
• ¾ tbsp sriracha
• 2 tbsp fresh-picked coriander leaves, with some stem attached
• salt and black pepper

Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C fan-forced. Poke the sweet potatoes all over with a fork (about 8–10 times) and place them on a medium, baking paper-lined baking tray. Bake for 45–50 minutes, or until cooked through and softened. Set aside to cool and turn the oven temperature down to 180°C fan-forced.
2. Meanwhile, in a small bowl mix together the onion, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and a pinch of salt and set aside to pickle.
3. Remove the cooked potato skins and tear them into roughly 4-cm pieces. Transfer the potato flesh to a large bowl and set it aside. Place the skins back on the baking tray and toss with 1 tablespoon of oil, ¼ tsp of salt and a good grind of pepper. Bake for 8 minutes, or until nicely coloured and starting to crisp up. Set aside to cool and crisp up further.
4. Use a fork to mash the potato flesh until smooth, then add the cheddar, garlic, cumin, another tablespoon of oil, the remaining tablespoon of lemon juice, 1 teaspoon of salt and a generous grind of pepper, and mix to combine.
5. Put the remaining tablespoon of oil into a large frying pan, for which you have a lid, and swirl around to coat the bottom. Spoon the mashed potato mixture into the pan, using your spoon to distribute it evenly. Place on medium-high heat and leave to cook for about 7 minutes, for the bottom to start to colour. Turn the heat down to medium and use a spoon to make eight wells in the potato mixture, breaking an egg into each. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper, cover with the lid and cook for 4–5 minutes, rotating the pan, or until the whites are set and the yolks are still runny.
6. While the eggs are cooking, put the butter and sriracha into a small saucepan on medium heat and cook until the butter has melted, whisking constantly to emulsify. Remove the mixture from the heat before it starts to bubble – you don’t want it to split.
7. When ready, spoon the sriracha butter all over the eggs, then top with a good handful of the crispy potato skins, half the pickled onion and all the picked coriander leaves. Serve right away, with the rest of the potato skins and pickled onion to eat alongside.

 

Recipe and image from Ottolenghi Test Kitchen by Yotam Ottolenghi and Noor Murad, Penguin Books, RRP $49.99.

Cook's Notes

Oven temperatures are for conventional; if using fan-forced (convection), reduce the temperature by 20˚C. | We use Australian tablespoons and cups: 1 teaspoon equals 5 ml; 1 tablespoon equals 20 ml; 1 cup equals 250 ml. | All herbs are fresh (unless specified) and cups are lightly packed. | All vegetables are medium size and peeled, unless specified. | All eggs are 55-60 g, unless specified.

Serve this vibrant dish as a weekend brunch; it sure looks the part.