RECIPE BY SALLIE HARVEY
PHOTOGRAPHY BY RICHARD CORNISH

This classic Berber dish is an easy recipe that is perfect for tajine virgins to start learning their way around this traditional terracotta cooking pan. It is also the perfect dish to serve on these autumn days when it’s a bit cooler and you have too many last-of-the-season tomatoes on your hands. The secret of any dish cooked in a tajine is to use way more onions than you think you’re going to need. These form the bed on which the other ingredients cook and which are infused with the aroma of the onions and spices.  

INGREDIENTS

2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

2 small onions, diced

pinch of salt

4 tomatoes, diced

1 teaspoon cumin seed, freshly ground

4 eggs

2 tablespoons coriander, chopped

bread to serve

METHOD

Heat the oil in the bottom of the tajine over medium-low heat. Add the onions and cook for 10 or so minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the onions are translucent. Season with salt and add the tomatoes. Stir together. Cook for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the tomatoes and onions form a sauce. While the tomatoes are cooking listen to them. If you hear a sizzle that means they need stirring. Sprinkle over the cumin. Make four small wells with the back of spoon in the sauce. Into these crack the eggs. Cover with the tajine lid. Cook for a few minutes or until the whites are just set. Remove from the heat. Allow to sit for a few minutes. Sprinkle with coriander and serve. Use pieces of bread to scoop out the shakshouka in true Berber style. 

To book Sallie and one of her SOUQ feasts, call 0409 339 308