Spinach Shakshuka: An Easy Recipe
If you're looking for a flavorful and sociable dish to share, try this spinach shakshuka recipe! This hearty dish, inspired by North African cuisine, consists of sautéed spinach, beef meatballs, and eggs. Easy to prepare with frozen chopped spinach, it's even better if you make homemade beef meatballs. We invite you to discover the recipe steps through pictures.
Ingredients
Here are the necessary ingredients for making a spinach Shakshuka for 4 people:
400 g of frozen chopped spinach.
400 g of canned tomato pulp.
300 g of minced beef.
5 eggs.
2 tablespoons of Parmesan or Grana Padano cheese.
6 tablespoons of breadcrumbs.
1 teaspoon of ground cumin.
1 teaspoon of garlic powder.
2 to 3 tablespoons of olive oil.
salt and pepper.
Tomato Spinach Preparation
This recipe is a reinterpretation of the North African shakshuka which is traditionally made with tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, and eggs. The first step is to prepare the tomato spinach which forms the base of this spinach shakshuka.
1- Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
2- Add the spinach and let it heat until it's completely thawed.
3- Then add the tomato pulp, salt, pepper, and ground cumin.
4- Let this mixture simmer on low heat for about 30 minutes, without covering the skillet, so that some of the water evaporates.
Beef Meatball Preparation
If you have the time, I highly recommend making this spinach shakshuka with homemade beef meatballs. These meatballs aren't too complicated to make and are much better than store-bought products.
1- In a large bowl, mix the ground beef with parmesan or grana padano and 2 tablespoons of breadcrumbs.
2- Season with garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
3- Add a whole egg and mix well until you get a stuffing with a uniform texture.
4- Count two meatballs per person. Divide the stuffing into 8 equal parts to prepare 8 meatballs.
5- Shape each portion between your hands, adding a bit of breadcrumbs if necessary, to achieve well-rounded and uniform meatballs.
Cooking of the dumplings
In the traditional recipe for shakshuka, the meatballs are cooked in tomato sauce. To ensure that the homemade beef meatballs hold together well during cooking, I preferred to pre-cook them in a pan with a little olive oil.
1- Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a non-stick pan.
2- Brown the beef meatballs over high heat on all sides.
3- Once the meatballs are well browned on all sides, add them to the large pan containing the tomato spinach.
Shakshuka Preparation
To finalize this spinach shakshuka recipe, all you have to do is add eggs.
1- Just before serving, make 4 small wells in the spinach mixture.
2- Crack 4 whole eggs into the wells.
3- Cover the pan and cook the eggs over medium heat until the whites are set.
4- Serve this shakshuka hot, giving each person an egg and two meatballs.
