Shakshuka With Feta & Flatbreads

Ingredients

• 4 eggs
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 x 400g tin chopped tomatoes
• 1 red pepper, diced
• 1 red onion, diced
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 0.5 tsp chilli flakes
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 50 g feta, crumbled
• 2 flatbreads
• 15g coriander, chopped

Method

1. Heat the olive oil in a large ovenproof frying pan over medium heat. Add the red onion and both peppers with a good pinch of salt — the salt pulls moisture out and helps them soften rather than colour. Fry for 5–6 minutes until glossy and slumping at the edges.
2. Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds, just until fragrant — no more. Burnt garlic turns the whole base bitter and you can't claw it back.
3. Add the cumin, smoked paprika and chilli flakes. Bloom them in the oil for 30–60 seconds until the kitchen smells warm and toasty. Raw spices taste dusty; bloomed spices taste of themselves.
4. Pour in the chopped tomatoes and the rinsed lentils with a 100ml splash of water — the liquid breaks the tomatoes down so they taste of fruit, not tin, and the lentils need it to soften. Season well with salt and pepper, then simmer for 12–15 minutes, stirring now and then, until the sauce is thick, jammy and a deep brick red. Taste it now — adjust the salt before the eggs go in, not at the table.
5. Make 4 wells in the sauce with the back of a spoon and crack an egg into each. Cover the pan and cook for 5–6 minutes until the whites are set and opaque but the yolks still wobble when you nudge the pan.
6. Scatter over the crumbled feta while the pan is still hot so it softens slightly at the edges.
7. Warm the flatbreads in a dry pan or under the grill until pliable and lightly blistered.
8. Drizzle the shakshuka with tahini, scatter the chopped coriander and torn mint across the top, and bring the pan straight to the table with the warm flatbreads alongside for scooping.