Name: Spinach Shakshuka
Yield: Serves 2–3
Ingredients: 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling; 1 large yellow onion, finely chopped; 1 small jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped; 4 garlic cloves, finely chopped; ¼ teaspoon ground coriander; ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon; 1 teaspoon kosher salt; 10 ounces (280 g) baby spinach; 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice; 4–6 eggs; Freshly ground black pepper; Feta cheese and roughly chopped fresh cilantro, for sprinkling

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Photo by SANG AN

Since I was little, I have thrilled at reading food-related passage in novels. But the food scenes in Some Day by Israeli novelist Shemi Zarhin are on another level. In one passage, Zarhin describes a dish so vividly, I felt compelled to re-create it in my own kitchen He writes: "Ruchama...fried onions and sprinkled garlic cloves...seasoned it with spicy green pepper and coriander seeds and squeezed a lemon and placed a pile of beet leaves...in the middle, and within seconds, the green pile sunk into the pot and became an aromatic green sauce, into which Ruchama chopped cubes of sheep's milk cheese and broke three eggs and dripped olive oil." As I read and my mouth watered, I realized that Ruchama is essentially making a tomato-free version of the North African poached egg dish, shakshuka. Riffing off the "recipe," I experimented with a spinach shakshuka and, like Ruchama, ended up mopping it up with pita "with great pleasure."

Recipe information

Yield
Serves 2–3

Ingredients

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for drizzling

1 large yellow onion, finely chopped

1 small jalapeño, seeded and finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

¼ teaspoon ground coriander

¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon kosher salt

10 ounces (280 g) baby spinach

2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

4–6 eggs

Freshly ground black pepper

Feta cheese and roughly chopped fresh cilantro, for sprinkling

Preparation

Step 1
Heat the olive oil in a large pan set over medium heat. Add the onion and jalapeño and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 6 to 8 minutes. Add the garlic, coriander, cinnamon, and salt, and cook, stirring, until fragrant, 1 to 2 minutes.
Step 2
Add the spinach and lemon juice to the pan, turn the heat to low, cover, and cook, tossing occasionally with tongs, until the spinach is very soft, 7 to 10 minutes. (If the spinach does not fit all at once in the pan, add a little at a time, adding more as the spinach in the pan wilts.) Uncover and evenly spread the mixture across the bottom of the pan. Use the back of the spoon to make four to six shallow indentations in the surface of the greens mixture to hold the eggs while they cook.
Step 3
Break the eggs into small cups and gently slide them into the indentations. Raise the heat to medium, cover the pan, and cook until the whites are set but the yolks are still a bit runny, 4 to 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat. Drizzle a little more olive oil on top and sprinkle with pepper, feta, and cilantro. Serve hot, directly from the pan.