Menemen: Turkish scrambled eggs

Softly scrambled eggs in a rich tomato sauce loaded with warming spices and fresh herbs. Similar to Shakshuka but Menemen has scrambled eggs folded throughout the sauce for a looser, more silkier texture. Comforting and colourful, this is a beauitful and speedy dish and the perfect weekend brunch. Simple enough to pull together in less than 20 minutes, all cooked in one pan and easy to double or half the recipe depending on how many people you're feeding. Served with warm toasted flatbreads, this is the perfect, delicious slow morning start.

Time to make : 20 minutes

Serves : 4

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

1 red pepper, de-seeded and diced

1 green pepper, de-seeded and diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbsp tomato purée

210g tin chopped tomatoes

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp chilli flakes

1 tsp salt

6 eggs

80g feta

Handful fresh parsley, roughly chopped

Salt and pepper, to season

Toasted flatbreads, to serve

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. Add the peppers and sauté for a few minutes until they start to soften. Add the garlic and tomato purée and sauté for another minute until aromatic.

2. Pour in the chopped tomatoes and add the paprika, chilli flakes and salt, stirring to mix. Let it simmer for 5 minutes with the lid off, the sauce should reduce and thicken slightly.

3. Crack the eggs into a small bowl and whisk together with a fork. Once the tomato sauce has reduced and thickened, pour the eggs over and use a wooden spoon to gently stir them into the mixture, working from the outside in. Reduce the heat to low and continue to cook, uncovered, for a few minutes whilst the eggs cook, continuing to occasionally stir and bring everything together.

4. Remove the pan from the heat just before the eggs have set (they will continue to cook off the heat). Taste and season with salt and pepper, then garnish with the fresh, chopped parsley and crumble over the feta. Serve with toasted flatbreads.

   
   

Nutritional Information

(per serve)

231 cals

16g fat, 7g carbs, 14g protein

Good to know:

• I find tomato-based dishes always need a little bit more salt than other dishes and it helps to cut through the bitterness of tinned tomatoes and bring out the sweetness and flavour, so make sure you taste as you go and build up the salt in layers rather than throw it all in at the end. You can always add more but you can’t take it out once it’s in!