Green Shakshuka

Tomato, Greens, Chiles, Sunchoke, Yogurt, and Egg

Chef Natasha Douglas of Better Luck Tomorrow | Houston

Adapted by StarChefs | December 2019

INGREDIENTS:

Eggs:
Yield: 30 hard-boiled eggs
¼ cup salt
½ cup distilled vinegar 
1 flat heritage eggs (straight from fridge)  

 Sunchokes and Peppers:
Yield: 20 servings
Grapeseed oil
5 pounds sunchokes, scrubbed, halved lengthwise 
Salt 
20 cloves garlic, smashed  
5 sprigs rosemary 
Black pepper 
50 grams unsalted butter  
5 pounds poblano peppers, deseeded, diced 1-inch' 

Shakshuka Sauce:
Yield: 2 gallons, 64 servings
8 grams toasted cumin seeds 
40 grams toasted charnushka (nigella) seeds 
28 grams crushed red pepper flakes 
20 grams smoked paprika 
8 grams turmeric powder 
¼ cup of grapeseed oil 
1.2 kilograms yellow onions, diced medium 
Salt 
80 grams coarsely chopped garlic
280 grams charred jalapeno, deseeded, stemmed, charred, coarsely chopped   
2.7 kilograms tomatoes, cored, scored, roasted, skinned, juices reserved 
140 grams cider vinegar
75 grams liquid aminos 
600 grams cold butter, cubed 

Greens:
Yield: 64 servings
800 grams Tuscan kale, stems removed 
4 kilograms spinach (stems intact) 
Salt 
Baking soda

To Assemble and Serve:
Yield: 2 servings
¼ cup cooked puy lentils, warm 
Serrano peppers, thinly sliced on mandi
Scallions, thinly sliced on bias 
Dill pluches
Aleppo pepper 
Parsley leaves 
Toasted pumpkin seeds
Spanish extra virgin olive oil 
Lemon juice
Greek-style yogurt 
Crumbled Greek feta
Za’atar
Lemon wedge
1 slice buttered/olive oiled sourdough toast 

METHOD:

For the Eggs: 
In a pot, combine salt, vinegar, and 2 gallons water and bring to rolling boil. Gently add eggs. Cook 12 minutes. Prepare an ice bath. When done, immediately transfer eggs to ice bath. Allow eggs to cool to room temperature, 5 to 7 minutes; drain. Use the back of a spoon to crack eggs on all sides. Roll eggs on a flat surface, using your palm to apply slight pressure to loosen the shell. Peel eggs. Do not cut eggs until day of use. When cutting, use a sharp, wet knife, and clean knife between each cut. Do not serve eggs that are older than 2 days or that have any discoloration around the yolks.

For the Sunchokes and Peppers:
Heat oven to 375°F. Heat a cast iron pan over high heat and pour in enough oil to create a ⅛-inch-deep pool. Working in batches and adding oil as necessary, sear cut-sides of sunchokes and season with salt. When cut-sides are golden and crisp, add garlic and rosemary and season with black pepper. Immediately transfer to oven. Cook 15 minutes, baste sunchokes, and cook 15 minutes more. Add butter, baste again, and cook another 15 minutes. Drain sunchokes on paper towels and season with salt while warm. When cooled completely, cut sunchokes into 1-inch pieces. In a storage container, combine sunchokes and diced poblanos.

For the Shakshuka Sauce:
To a spice grinder, add seeds and pepper flakes; finely grind. Transfer to a bowl with paprika and turmeric. In a rondeau over medium flame, heat oil, add onions, and season with salt. Decrease flame to medium-low and sweat onions, stirring every 5 minutes, until onions have completely lost their bite, but do not have any color, about 20 minutes. Add garlic and spice mix. When fragrant, add jalapeños and tomatoes with their liquid, increase heat to medium-high, and reduce mixture by half. Deglaze with vinegar and aminos. Cook 3 minutes, frequently scraping the bottom of the rondeau. In batches, transfer mixture to a Vitamix blender and purée, add butter as you go. Strain sauce through a chinois. Keep warm.  

For the Greens: 
Prepare an ice path. Fill a large pot halfway with water. Scale water and record weight. Return water to pot. Add 4 percent salt and 1 percent baking soda by weight. Bring to boil. Blanch kale 3 minutes, add spinach, and continue to blanch 1 minute more. Shock Greens in ice bath. Reserve blanching liquid. Drain greens but do not squeeze water out from leaves. In batches, transfer greens to a Vitamix blender; purée. Add up to 800 grams blanching liquid to facilitate blending. Strain through a chinois. Keep warm. 

 To Assemble and Serve:
Peel and halve 3 Eggs. In a small sauté pan, gently warm some Sunchokes and Peppers. In 2 serving dishes, scatter lentils followed by the Sunchokes and Peppers. Top with a layer each of Shakshuka Sauce and Greens sauce. Garnish with serranos, dill, Aleppo, parsley, pepitas, oil, lemon juice, yogurt, and feta. Place 3 egg halves yoke-up in each dish. Sprinkle Eggs with za’atar. Serve with lemon wedge and toast.  

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