The perfect brunch for a Summer Sunday
Okay, the weather’s not so great but I’ve just got back from Corfu where it was 38C and I think this freshness is quite nice.
The Greeks have a lovely dish that uses the best quality ingredients to transform something relatively simple into a fantastic feast. It’s called Strapatsada and is similar to Shakshouka, My favourite things are tomatoes, eggs and oregano so you can see why this is a winner for me.
Enough for 2 or 1 very hungry, egg lover:
Ingredients:
Olive oil – approx 3 tablespoons for cooking
1 tablespoon extra virgin oil for drizzling
2 large beef tomatoes diced into 1cm cubes – get good, ones full of flavour or use an Italian brand of tinned like Mutti if not available
A medium thinly-sliced onion
Oregano
1 garlic clove – peeled and halved
½ tsp sweet smoked paprika
salt & pepper
4 free range eggs
Feta (optional) to garnish
Recipe:
Use a deep frying pan. Gently sweat the onion slices and garlic halves in 3 tablespoons of the olive oil (not extra virgin) until the onions are translucent but not brown, Discard the garlic. Add the tomatoes. Season to taste and add the paprika. Cook for 5-10min, until the sauce thickens a bit.
Sprinkle with oregano and taste – add more salt and pepper if required. If you’re finishing with feta, go easy on the salt. Use the back of the spoon to make 4 holes in the tomatoes and crack an egg into each hole. If you’re adding feta, spinkle it around the edges of the eggs, place a lid on the pan for a few minutes. Check to see egg whites are cooked but yolks still runny and serve with crusty bread to mop up the lovely juices.