About the Recipe
Surprisingly, this dish was not inspired by my travels. Unless one counts taking the overground to Peckham Rye as travelling. Instead, I was teaching a class at LEVELSIX and, as usual, I had a meal afterwards there. This vegan shakshuka just blew my mind. Warm, creamy, tasting of roasted peppers and tomatoes. Pure magic. I simply couldn’t wait to recreate this delicious and easy dish back home. Below is my version of Chef Woody’s masterpiece.
Ingredients
6-7 large red peppers
2 small onions, finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, pressed
2 tbsp. coconut oil or rapeseed oil
1 tbsp. smoked paprika
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. ground coriander
½ tsp chilli flakes
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tbsp. vegan bouillon
1 can chopped tomatoes
Juice of ½ lemon
Salt & pepper to taste
Extra virgin olive oil
Parsley to serve
Preparation
Wash, cut in half and de-seed the peppers. Place the halves facing down on the roasting tray previously covered with baking paper. Roast in the oven for about 25 min, or unless the tops (skin) has blackened. Remove from the oven, place in a deep bowl and cover with cling film for the peppers to ‘sweat’. Put aside to cool.
Fry the onions on a high heat for about 3 min, constantly stirring, until caramelised. Turn down the heat, add garlic and spices. Fry for another 2-3 min then add the mustard, bouillon, chopped tomatoes and 250 ml of water. Bring to boil then turn down to simmer.
Pull the skins off the cooled peppers and discard. Chop the pepper flesh into roughly 2-3 cm chunks and with the roasting ‘juice’ add to the cooking pot. Add the lemon juice, salt and pepper and simmer for another 30 min.
Once cooked, stir in a dollop of a good quality olive oil.
^If available, prepare a couple of hours in advance, or a day before, for the flavours to combine.
^^ Serve over pearl barley, roasted cous cous, quinoa or rice.