A traditional Middle Eastern dish with a North African twist, shakshuka with harissa (eggs baked in a spicy tomato stew) is a delicious savory dish to put on your Sunday brunch menu!

Shakshuka made it onto my radar a few years back when I purchased Ottolenghi’s cookbook, Plenty. It was one of those recipes that I had really good intention to make until it got tucked away onto my shelf to be forgotten. Then, maybe a year ago, I saw shakshuka on the brunch menu at the Beat Hotel in Cambridge. And I was all like, this is my chance! To see what this dish is all about. It was hard for me to stray from my predictably delicious eggs Benedict, but I was feeling confident in my odds taking the risk to stray.

Shashuka is traditionally a Middle Eastern dish of eggs baked in a spicy tomato stew. The version I had at The Beat was made with a North African condiment – harissa – which is a hot chili pepper paste made with roasted red peppers, garlic, and spices.

When I read this month’s recipe redux theme – start smoking in the new year – to incorporate some smoky or spiciness into a dish, I knew I had to recreate this dish.