Eggplant Shakshuka
The following post was made in collaboration with Lauren Schulte of @TheBiteSizePantry. and Mina Moroccan Foods. Product was provided by Mina and recipe development and photography were provided courtesy of Lauren Schulte.
I love to travel the globe, experiencing new places, meeting new and interesting people and trying different local cuisines. While traveling abroad in college I fell in love with certain flavors and foods that would take me back to my memories of traveling each time I took a bit. Naturally, I wouldn’t want those experiences to end, so I would try to either recreate the flavors or purchase ingredients abroad and try to import my favorite flavors from my travels when I made it back home. The transporting home method didn’t always pan out well. One time the cheese I brought home from France went bad on the flight and stunk up the whole plane. Another time the smoked meats traveling home with me from Italy were seized at customs.
After those mishaps, it’s great to be able to experience those familiar flavors from my travels with Mina and their specialty international sauces that I can purchase at my local Heinen’s. No more customs delays or stinking up planes for this gal!
Mina’s sauces are meant to be loved because they are made with love. Family recipes passed between generations are now available to all of us. This is why I fell so hard for their Shakshuka sauce, which happens to be the main element in this dish. It’s like a warm hug from your grandmother, inviting you in with its aromas of garlic, cumin, coriander and paprika. You’re going to love this shakshuka dish made simple with Mina’s premade sauce. This sauce can typically take over 2 hours to make, but Mina makes it so simple.
My Eggplant Shakshuka is a delicious dish that only requires a handful of ingredients. You won’t need any coins for the boatman, just a jar of Mina’s shakshuka sauce, a large lidded skillet, olive oil, sea salt, black pepper, garlic, eggs, eggplant, onion and some crusty bread, naan or pita for dipping. The great thing about Mina’s sauce is that it already contains chunks of onion and all the flavoring you really need, I just like to add a little extra. You could also dish it out over steamed rice or cooked lentils for a little extra protein in a meatless option. Mina means to make cooking flavorful food for your family just as they’ve done for their own for generations in their own families.
Eggplant Shakshuka
Ingredients
- 1 large eggplant, skin on and sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 4-6 eggs
- 4 Tbsp. olive oil
- 2 Tbsp. garlic, minced
- 1 jar of Mina’s Shakshuka Sauce
- Crusty bread, naan or pita
Instructions
- Set oven to 350°F. Line 1-2 (depending on the size of the eggplant) sheet pans with parchment paper. Tinfoil works just fine also, just make sure to spray it so the eggplant doesn’t stick or burn.
- Slice the eggplant into slices 1/4 inch thick. Brush with olive oil, fresh garlic, salt and pepper on both sides. I like to mix my minced garlic, salt and pepper into the olive oil for easy application.
- Bake eggplant slices for approximately 20 minutes. Turn them once and bake for an additional 10 minutes. You want them to be soft, but not mushy. Remove the eggplant from the oven and set aside.
- Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat.
- While the eggplant slices are cooling, sauté the onion in 2 Tbsp. of olive oil in an oven-safe pan. Once the onions turn a slightly translucent color, turn the heat down and dump the jar of Mina Shakshuka sauce into the pan.
- Dice up most of the eggplant slices into bite-size chunks, but save a couple slices to place in the sauce “purgatory”.
- Mix the diced eggplant into the sauce. Make small shallow pools in the sauce and crack each an egg into each. Place the remaining eggplant slices in between the eggs on top of the sauce.
- Cover and place in the oven for 5-7 minutes at 350°F until you reach your desired egg consistency. You can also leave these on the stovetop at low heat to cook, but I like baking mine in the oven.
Note: I like my eggs extra runny so I place the pan in the oven for only 3 minutes or so.
Eggplant Shakshuka
