{To go straight to Shashuka, click here.}
A person could probably look around my home and think 
that I just might love vintage, and I do! But I love anything handmade even more. Etsy has been my go-to sight for almost everything in my life over the past 5 years. I’ve shopped there for holiday and birthday gifts, wedding decor, and baby items. But one of the coolest things to come from my relationship with Etsy, is my friendship with this lovely lady, Orly Pittel.
Orly makes the most beautiful and whimsical ceramics that are perfect for so many occasions {home and wedding decor and jewelry}. For our wedding, we ordered a cake topper and a ring bearer bowl and Orly sent along some really fun charms that live in my favorite houseplants. See all of the amazing items that Orly makes by hand on her website here. She’s also got a really convenient Etsy shop here.
Orly is from Israel and despite the distance, anything she packages always arrives in perfect shape and in a timely fashion. She surprised me this past summer by making us some gorgeous ceramic letters that spell out our baby girl’s name! Honestly, there is nothing this woman can’t make. Check out her sites for some amazing gift ideas and a few lovely things for yourself!
In honor of Orly and doing this post on her beautiful creations, Justin and I decided to make a delicious Israeli dish. Shakshuka is a dish of eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes, chili peppers, onions, and often spiced with cumin. It’s traditionally served up in a cast iron pan with bread to mop up the sauce {the yummy, oh-so-delicious sauce}. We loved this dish and can’t wait to make it again!
Shakshuka {classic Ireali breakfast}
Yield 4 servings
Recipe {slightly} adapted from Saveur.com
Ingredients
- 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
- 5 Anaheim chiles or 3 jalapeños, stemmed, seeded, and finely chopped
- 1 small yellow onion, chopped
- 8 clove garlic, crushed
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 tablespoon paprika
- 28 ounce can of crushed tomatoes, drained
- Kosher salt, to taste
- 8 eggs
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta cheese
- 1 tablespoon chopped flat-leaf parsley
- warm pitas
Instructions
- Heat the oil in a 12″ skillet over medium-high heat.
- Add the chiles and onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until they’re soft and golden brown {about 6 minutes}.
- Add the garlic, cumin, and paprika, and cook, stirring frequently, until the garlic is soft {about 2 more minutes}.
- Add the crushed tomatoes and their liquid to the skillet along with 1/2 cup water.
- Reduce the heat to medium and simmer, stirring occasionally, until it’s thickened slightly {about 20 minutes}.
- Season the sauce with salt.
- Crack the eggs over the sauce so that the eggs are evenly distributed across the sauce’s surface.
- Cover the skillet and cook until the yolks are just set {about 5 minutes}.
- Using a spoon, baste the whites of the eggs with the tomato mixture, being careful not to disturb the yolks.
- Sprinkle the shakshuka with feta and parsley and serve with pitas, for dipping.
