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Shakshuka I

A tomato and pepper stew with eggs poached in the sauce.

From the Wikibooks Cookbook · 9 ingredients
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Why it works: Olive and tomato are a kitchen classic. They rank in the top 1% of all ingredient pairs, and cooks put them together in 15,539 recipes. Both carry 3-hexenal, which smells apple, fruity. The science ↓

Shakshuka I

Timeabout 10 minutes

Ingredients

Directions

Make the sauce

  1. Heat the olive oil on high heat for about ½ minute.

  2. Add the paprika and blend well.

  3. Add the garlic and peppers, and turn to low flame.

  4. Cook for about 10 minutes, until the peppers have slightly softened.

  5. Add the tomatoes and bring to a boil.

  6. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

Add the eggs

  1. Make 6 dents in the mixture.

  2. Into each dent, put an egg yolk, and spread the egg whites around.

  3. Continue to cook on low until the egg whites have coagulated.

Nutrition, whole recipe (rough)

237Calories
8 gProtein
20 gFat
9 gCarbs
What these numbers assume: 7 portions
IngredientPortion assumedkcal
Olive Oil1 tbsp (14g)119
Egg1 large egg (50g)78
Tomato1 medium (123g)22
Chili1 tsp (2.7g)8
Black Pepper1 tsp ground (2.3g)6
Garlic1 clove (3g)4
Salt1 tsp (6g)0

One typical portion per ingredient; the recipe's quantities are not counted. A rough guide only, not for medical or dietary planning.

Recipe from the Wikibooks Cookbook.

Steps grouped into stages for easier reading; the method is the source's own.

Explore the science

The flavor team

The pairs that carry this dish. Each one is judged two ways: how much their aromas overlap, and how often cooks already put them together.

  1. Olive + tomatotop 1% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together15,539 recipes

    Shared aroma: 3-hexenal (apple, fruity).

  2. Olive + garlictop 2% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together25,665 recipes

    Shared aroma: linalool (floral, citrus).

  3. Garlic + tomatotop 3% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together14,076 recipes

    Shared aroma: furaneol (caramel, strawberry).

  4. Clove + peppertop 5% of all pairs
    Smell alikestrong
    Cooked together17,451 recipes

    Shared aroma: ethyl octanoate (fruity, wine).

  5. Pepper + tomatotop 7% of all pairs
    Smell alikemoderate
    Cooked together17,923 recipes

    Shared aroma: 2-isopropyl-3-methoxypyrazine (earthy, pea).

Ranks compare each pair with 20,000 random ingredient pairs on CompKitchen. How we score pairs

What each ingredient does

Tomatoes
Form the liquid base of the sauce and add acidity and moisture.
Eggs
Set in the sauce as it cooks, giving the dish its rich, soft texture.
Sweet red pepper
Softens while cooking, adding sweetness and body to the sauce.
Garlic
Adds pungent aroma that deepens as it cooks gently in the oil.
Olive oil
Carries the aromatics and paprika, adding fat and helping flavors spread through the sauce.
Sweet paprika
Adds color and mild, sweet earthy flavor when bloomed in the hot oil.

The step that matters

Continue to cook on low until the egg whites have coagulated. Eggs set from the edges inward as proteins firm with heat. Cooking too hard can toughen or overcook the yolks, so low heat lets the whites set while the yolks stay soft.

Swap the clove

How well each one fits the dish's main ingredients (olive, garlic, pepper, tomato, egg):

  1. Basilfits better
  2. Parsleyfits better
  3. Oreganofits better
  4. Clovethe original

Fit is the average pairing score against olive, garlic, pepper, tomato, egg. Candidates are from the same food group and used in at least 100 recipes.

“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.

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