Egg poached in a fragrant and slightly spicy tomato stew
Simple Tunisian dish full of deep North African flavours. Eggs are poached in a harissa tomato stew with briny olive and delicate prawns for extra texture. Serve with toasted pita or other bread of choice.
Recipe
Serves: 2 | Time: <40 min
Ingredients
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/2 onion
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp harissa (makes a mild ojja – add more to taste)
- 400g can of chopped tomatoes (14oz)
- 1/2 red pepper, diced
- a dozen pitted olives (or more to taste), sliced
- a dozen prawns
- 4 eggs
- Parsley to top
- 2 pitas to serve
Method
- Heat a pan on medium heat.
- Julienne the 1/2 onion and pan fry in 1tbsp of olive oil until softened (about 5min).
- Add 1 tsp of coriander and 1 tsp of harissa. Cook for 1min.
- Add the 400g can of chopped tomatoes. Mix and simmer for 10min. The mix should be thick but not too thick, if needed add a bit of water.
- Meanwhile chop the 1/2 red pepper and slice olives.
- Add the peppers and half of the olives to the tomato sauce.
- Add prawns and cook for 2min.
- Make 4 little wells in the sauce with the back of a spoon. Break one egg in each hole, and gently mix the white with the surrounding tomato sauce.
- Cover and cook for 5min.
- To serve top with remaining olives, chopped parsley and serve with pita or other bread of choice.
Substitutions
I highlight here the core that makes the soul of the dish and suggest possible substitutions to adapt the ojja to your preferences, diet and ingredients available to you.
Core: Eggs poached in a fragrant tomato sauce.
Substitutions: Protein, spices, seasoning. You can remove peppers, onions, prawns depending of diet and taste.
| Recipe components | Possible substitutions* |
| Onion | • Discard |
| Spices | Add 2 cloves of garlic, minced and fried for 20sc in the onions before adding the tomatoes. |
| Tinned tomato | • Fresh tomatoes |
| Red pepper | • Green pepper |
| Prawns | • Merguez • Tuna • Sardines • Aubergines / eggplants |
| Toppings | • Green / Black Olives • Parsley |
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