A Tortilla Is The Perfect Crispy Vehicle For Single-Serve Shakshuka

If you haven't been converted in the ways of shakshuka yet, you've at least seen recipe videos for it pop up on your YouTube feed. And while you probably wouldn't guess the humble origin of shakshuka, it's safe to say that the delicious one-pot dish has risen to superstardom for this generation of home cooks. There's just so much to love about it: It's a peppery tomato sauce, it's vegetarian-friendly, it can be eaten for breakfast, and it's the greatest excuse to bake your own crusty Italian bread so you can mop up every last drop. But what if there was a way to make it single-serve with its very own convenient carb baked in to help you scoop the shakshuka?

Tortillas are the perfect vessel for holding a single-serving shakshuka, and they're a cheap and convenient food you can find at any supermarket. To assemble this dish, you first press a single tortilla into a small cast-iron pan (or any small oven-safe pan) and pour the shakshuka over it in the center. Make a well in the sauce and crack an egg into it, top with cheese if desired, and pop it all into the oven to bake at 400 degrees Fahrenheit until the tortilla gets crispy, like a tostada, and the egg is cooked. Transfer the dish to a new plate (to avoid eating out of the hot pan), and enjoy using the tortilla as your shakshuka delivery system.

Before you even assemble the single-serve dish, complete with your tortilla, you need to start with a simple shakshuka recipe. Traditional recipes call for bell peppers, onions, garlic, and fresh tomatoes as the base vegetables, but eggplant, summer squash, mushrooms, and chili peppers could also work just as well, depending on what you like. The vegetables should be sauteed and thoroughly sweated down in a pan with olive oil first, to get them to release as much water as possible — just be sure to cook only what you'll need for this meal for one.

At this stage, meat is also optional. Small chunks of meatball or Italian sausage would work very well here. After sauteing the veggies (and any meat), a ladle-full of canned crushed tomatoes should be added to the vegetables, seasoned with salt, cumin, paprika, coriander, and chili flakes, and finally left to simmer briefly to let all of the flavors mingle.

Lastly, it's important to consider the right tortilla when deciding to make this dish. Tortillas with lower moisture content, like corn tortillas, will be able to get crispier as they bake in the oven, and will be able to withstand the subsequent moisture from the shakshuka. Flour tortillas work too, but they are softer and may need to be baked for longer to achieve the desired texture. Don't forget to take this extra cooking time into account before cracking on your egg as the final step, because it can easily become overcooked.