Eggs Poached in Tomato Sauce

 

The other day I came across this great recipe for poached eggs, middle eastern style. I am a true egg lover and have them every single day for breakfast. Usually I have them hard boiled, but occasionally I eat them poached, scrambled, or fried. Still, I love to look for new ways to prepare my eggs, and this recipe intrigued me. 

I showed the recipe to my mom and she agreed that it sounded tasty and that we should try it. We already had most of the ingredients, and decided to wing it with some that we were missing. The recipe called for jalapeno peppers, but since we had none, we decided to use chili flakes instead. We both like spicy food and agreed that one teaspoon of chili flakes would give the dish a nice kick. Not only did the dish have a kick, but it had a punch and a head butt too...the sauce turned out to be extremely spicy. Luckily, by the time we finished the entire dish the eggs and the cheese helped to soften the spice level. Still, we learned our lesson and will be more cautious next time with the use of our substitute ingredients.

Eggs Poached in Tomato Sauce

• 4 eggs
• 1/2 red bell pepper, cut into thin strips
• 1/2 small onion, diced
• 3-4 garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp coriander
• 1/4 tsp chili flakes (even this may be a little much, so just use your judgement)
• 1 14 oz. can diced tomatoes
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup feta cheese
• 1/2 cup chopped dill
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat some oil in a large skillet on medium heat until hot. 
2. Add the onions and cook for 6-8 minutes, or until softened.
3. Add the bell pepper strips and cook for an additional 3-5 minutes, stirring often.
4. Add the chili flakes, garlic, cumin, coriander, salt, and pepper. Stir and cook for another 30 seconds.
5. Stir in the tomatoes and water and reduce the heat to low. Continue to simmer sauce for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally, until it is slightly thickened.
6. Create four wells in the sauce and break an egg into each well. Cook the sauce and eggs until the egg whites set and the yolks are still slightly runny.
7. Turn off the heat and sprinkle the feta cheese and dill over the sauce and eggs. Remove from the stove and enjoy!

Note: We halved the original recipe and changed some of the ingredients. If you are curious, the original can be found here. We also served it in the pan and simply tore off pieces of pita bread and dipped it in the eggs and sauce...it was messy but delicious.