Greek Shakshuka with Creamy Pesto and Feta
A wholesome savory breakfast full of flavor - spinach! feta! pesto! - and it'll only take you about 20 minutes (tops) to make.
Ingredients
Green Shakshuka
- 260 grams fresh baby spinach (about 6 cups packed)
- 3 eggs
- ½ 1/2 onion diced (about 3/4 cups)
- 3 cloves garlic sliced
Pesto
- 1.5 tbsp toasted pine nuts
- 1 cup fresh basil leaves, packed (about a 30 gram packet with stems removed)
- 3 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 50 mL extra-virgin olive oil (almost 1/4 cup)
- 1 tbsp water to help blend
Garnishes
- 1.5 tbsp pine nuts
- ¼ cup feta cheese
- fresh dill
Instructions
Toast pine nuts
- Heat a skillet over low heat and add 3 tablespoons of pine nuts. NO OIL.
- Stir by letting the pine nuts sit for a couple seconds and then stirring. Repeat for 3 to 4 minutes until pine nuts are gently toasted. Be vigilant! These babies burn quick!
- When done, set aside half and put other half in the blender.
Make pesto
- Add half the pine nuts (1.5 tbsp), fresh basil leaves (without stems), grated Parmesan, salt, black pepper, extra virgin olive oil and water to a blender or food processor.
- Mix until blended and smooth. Set aside.
Cook green shakshuka
- Heat a skillet over low-medium heat, add drizzle of oil and onions. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes until onions are softened and more translucent.
- Add roughly chopped garlic and stir through to cook for another 2 minutes. Add 1 teaspoon of butter and mix through.
- Start adding the spinach in batches by adding 1 to 2 cups at a time. Pack it down with your hand or wooden spoon. Then use the spoon or tongs to stir the spinach so all the leaves gets exposed to the butter and heat, helping it to wilt faster.When the pile of fresh spinach wilts and reduces, add another cup or two and so on. It takes about a minute to do each batch. The total time to cook 6 cups of spinach this way is about 5 minutes.
- When the spinach is mostly wilted, clear several spots in the spinach and crack in the eggs. Put the lid on and let cook for about 3 to 4 minutes.
- When the eggs are just about done to your liking, turn the heat off.
- Add generous dollops of pesto on top of the spinach. Crumble as much feta as you want. Top it off with pine puts and dill. Serve immediately.
Notes
In a hurry? If you want to make this recipe a lot easier (and faster), skip toasting the pine nuts. The toasting deepens their flavor but you can totally have pine nuts raw, too. You can also use ready-made pesto instead of blending your own.
Perfectionist? Another option for toasting the pine nuts that will get you more evenly toasted nuts is to pop them, single layer, in a preheated oven (350°F (177°C). Bake for about 4 to 5 minutes.
Patient with the pesto. It may be tempting to add the pesto in as the spinach cooks to evenly disperse it. But be patient. Heat will change the pesto's flavor so add it right at the end. It mixes in beautifully anyway.
A note on garlic. I used roughly cut garlic and sautéed them before adding the spinach because the larger pieces are less likely to burn. If you want to use minced or grated garlic instead, add them when you add the spinach. Minced garlic burns quick and that's a flavor nobody likes.