Tom’s Butchered Shakshuka

Ok, so here is the story. Last summer in Peru and Ecuador I was traveling around with my cousin who just finished her army service in Israel. She is a bomb person, and what she can make a very mean shakshuka. If you don’t know what shakshuka is, you have bean (food pun) missing out and need to get up on the times. Anyways. We were in a hostel in Cusco (Peru) and for dinner she wanted to make shakshuka. We go to the store, get the ingredients, and she just whips it up so well that I felt inspired to try and replicate what she did. Well I did it – Sort of. I think I did it. I may have butchered it.

Tom’s Butchered Shakshuka
Ingredients:
1 red bell pepper
1/2 small can of tomato paste
1 onion
Some garlic (I think used like 7 bulbs)
A crap load of tomatoes
Salt
Pepper
So just so you all know off the bat, I did this wrong. I not sure where, or when, or how, but I fudged up somewhere. Just ask my cousin, she will tell you the RIGHT way to do it. But here is the semi-right way.
1. Take the bell pepper, and cut it up in small cubes. I think that the appropriate word to use is dicing. So dice it up and set it aside for now.

2. Dice the onions and mince the garlic.

3. Throw them on the pan with some olive oil on low heat.

4. Take your tomatoes (2?) and start dicing those.

5. Make sure that the onion/garlic doesn’t brown so you stir it up once in a while.

6. After you finish one tomato, throw the peppers on. Let them get a tiny bit soft before you throw the tomatoes and paste in.

7. Let the food sit in low heat, adding salt and pepper while making sure nothing burns. Add the diced tomatoes and tomato paste.

8. Make the couscous at this point in time (follow instructions on box)

9. After 7 minutes on low/medium heat, make some wells for the eggs on the pan and crack them in. This is where I think I messed up, but I scrambled everything. I am not sure if that was the appropriate action but it still tasted great. Regardless. Do what I did and mix it all up.

10. Pour over couscous (or pasta)(or anything else) and enjoy.