I love to eat Shakshuka as a warming, wholesome meal for breakfast, brunch, lunch or supper - and this recipe provides some zero-waste inspiration for using up leftover festive dinner veggies in a simple, one-pot dish that can be a welcome counterpoint to a heavy Christmas meal. The dish is prepared by making the Shakshuka base, and you can either top it with leftover cooked veg - whatever you have available (store in the fridge then remove before cooking) - or you can cook veggies from scratch to pop on top. True to Shakshuka style, lay the cooked veggies on top of the tomato base for a beautiful, colourful centrepiece dish.
A traditional Shakshuka would have eggs baked on top, feel free to add these along with some leftover veg. I chose to make this a vegan version, letting the veg sing and with an awareness that it can be nourishing to pare back a little with our meals following a Christmas day blow-out!
When making Shakshuka, I often make the base ahead of time and store it in the fridge. I also tend to double the quantities of the tomato base sauce, then use it for subsequent meals to accompany rice, pasta or potatoes - it’s incredibly versatile. You can serve the Shakshuka on its own, or with for example crusty bread or a green leafy salad.
I cooked this Festive Leftovers Shakshuka for breakfast with Freyja Hanstein of Wholesome World, my guest for Episode 10 of the Breakfast & Beyond podcast. You can listen to our conversation about sustainable wellbeing via the Episode 10 web page.
Enjoy!
Recipe: Festive Leftovers Shakshuka (Vegan, GF)
Serves 4
Ingredients:
Left-over festive dinner vegetables, for example equivalent of 2 carrots and 2 parsnips each cut into wedges and roasted, 5 cooked sprouts (halved), handful of cooked chestnuts - or cook from fresh.
4 tbsp olive oil, plus a little more for drizzling (or alternative oil)
2 onions, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, peeled & finely chopped
2 cm nub fresh ginger
2 tbsp tomato purée
3 tins chopped tomatoes
1 tsp harissa
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp dried thyme (plus another 1 tsp if cooking carrots from fresh)
1 tbsp maple syrup (plus a little more to drizzle on parsnips, if cooking from fresh)
2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tbsp tamari sauce (or soy sauce)
1 tin black beans, drained & rinsed
Salt & pepper
Handful fresh seasonal herbs (eg thyme, marjoram, sage, flat-leaf parsley)
To serve: fresh crusty bread or a green salad
Method:
Pre-heat oven to 200°C
If using pre-cooked vegetables to top the Shakshuka, remove them from the fridge. If cooking vegetables from fresh:
Parsnips: wash, top and tail ends, cut into long wedges and place in small saucepan. Pour over water, bring to the boil then simmer for 10 mins, drain and set aside. Place wedges in a baking tray, drizzle with oil, maple syrup, salt & pepper. Roast in oven for approx 45 mins, shaking tray every 15 mins, until golden brown. When ready, remove from oven and set aside.
Carrots: wash, cut in half length ways, place on a baking tray, drizzle with oil, season with salt, pepper & 1 tsp dried thyme. Cook in oven for 15 mins, shaking the tray half way through. When ready, remove and set aside.
Brussels sprouts: remove any spoilt outer leaves, cut a cross in the bottom of the stalk, place in saucepan with boiling water, bring to the boil then simmer for 5 - 10 mins until just starting to soften then drain. When cool, cut in half.
For the rest of the Shakshuka:
Finely chop the onions, garlic and ginger.
In a large saucepan or frying pan heat 4 tbsp oil then add the chopped onion, garlic and ginger, cook for 5 mins then add the harissa, ground cinnamon, 1 tsp dried thyme and cook for a further minute.
Add the tomato purée, stir to combine, then add the tins of chopped tomatoes, the black beans, maple syrup, tamarind sauce, balsamic vinegar along with salt and pepper. Wash out the tomato cans with a splash of fresh water, adding this to the pan as well. Bring to the boil, then reduce to simmer for approx. 20 minutes, then remove from heat.
If using a saucepan, pour contents into a large frying pan (approx 32cm diameter) or baking tray (approx 25 x 25cm).
Lay the cooked vegetables around the top of the dish (I used carrots, parsnips, sprouts and chestnuts), then roughly tear the fresh herbs and place half on top, the remainder will be used for garnish.
Drizzle with oil and crack pepper on top, then place in oven for 10 - 15 minutes.
To serve, place the rest of the fresh herbs on top of the dish, and serve with sides such as crusty bread or salad.
