Tunisian Ojja

When we went to Tunisia I soon realised that Tunisians love their eggs...they use them in a myriad number of dishes. One of them was Ojja. I used to have this dish everyday for breakfast. It's delicious...some crusty bread and you will not even need a fork to eat it :) The peppers, spices and harissa really give this dish its unique North African flavours. Harissa is basically a Tunisian chilli paste which is very hot, so if you want to do a mild version of it, you can omit it but it takes away the Tunisian touch off it though haha. Harissa is stocked in supermarkets and it is well worth keeping a stock of it if you like your chilli, it can be found in tubes or cans [see picture]. To quicken the cooking time, grill the peppers, peel the burnt skin off and chop them into slices. You can also prepare the tomato sauce in advance and freeze it till needed. I will explain below how to prepare everything but if you are in a hurry or feel lazy you can use pre-grilled peppers in jars or ready made tomato sauce. So, you will need...

• 4 medium sized eggs
• 300ml tomato passata or chopped tomatoes
• 2 bell pepper, split in half and deseeded
• 1 teaspoon harissa, or to taste
• A pinch of ground coriander
• A pinch of ground cumin
• 2 small garlic cloves, sliced
• Olive oil
• Crusty bread, to serve

How to...

1. Start by adding the chopped garlic and olive oil in a pan. Heat them on a lower heat until the garlic starts turning golden. Now add the tomato passata or chopped tomatoes very carefully, so as the oil does not spit and burn your hands. Stir well and let it simmer for about 10 minutes (if using passata) or 20 minutes (if using chopped tomatoes). When done, set aside.
2. Whilst the sauce is simmering, switch on the grill on high heat and put the halved peppers underneath it  skin side up. Leave them until they are charred and completely burned. Now carefully turn upside down and grill the other side for a couple of minutes. Turn off the grill and carefully take them out, let them cool slightly and peel all the burnt skin off. Now chop them in slices and then in half. Set aside.
3. In a separate shallow frying pan, add some olive oil and the peppers. Switch the heat on medium and cook for about 2 minutes. Now add the tomato and garlic sauce, stir in the harissa and spices and cook for a few minutes. 
4. Now make 4 'holes' in the sauce and carefully crack 4 eggs in them, make sure you leave the yolk intact. Lower the heat, cover the frying pan and cook until the eggs are cooked through, just as you like them. Make sure you leave the yolk runny though.
5. Serve hot with crusty bread and make sure you mop up all the delicious spicy sauce.

Enjoy!!

R&A

Couscous & Aubergine Stuffed Peppers

Arabic/Middle Eastern cuisine is one of the best on the planet. It is so full of aromatic flavours and most all it smells so wonderful when you are cooking it. These peppers are stuffed with lots of flavours from very hot [harissa] to sweet [raisins]. We served them with some seasoned natural yoghurt. One of my tricks is to put all the spices in a small jar or small container with a lid and give them a good shake so as when you use them the spices are distributed evenly into the dish. You can call the spice mix Ras El Hanout [which literally means shopkeeper]. This term is used in North Africa [mostly Morocco] to define spice mixes sold in shops/market, every shop/seller has his own spice blend...hence the name! This dish is 100% vegetarian and will  make our vegetarian friends very happy...so please do give it a go. For 4/5 peppers you will need...

For the stuffing

• 1 large onion, finely chopped
• 2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
• 1 medium sized aubergine, diced into 1cm cubes
• 50g raisins
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 1 teaspoon harissa
• Ras el Hanout spice mix *
• Extra Virgin Olive Oil
• Extra water
• 200g couscous
• 200ml boiling water
• 4/5 Bell peppers, top taken off and deseeded

Ras el Hanout spice mix

* ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon, ½ teaspoon turmeric powder, ½ teaspoon ground cumin, ½ teaspoon ground allspice, freshly ground black pepper, ¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg, ¼ teaspoon ground cardamom, pinch ground ginger, pinch ground cloves, sea salt (to taste).

Laban dip

• 250ml natural yoghurt
• Freshly chopped mint [or 1 tablespoon dried mint]
• Ground black pepper, to taste
• 1 tbsp Extra virgin olive oil

How to...

1. Fry the onion in some oil until soft and transparent. Add the diced aubergine & garlic and cook covered for a further 5 minutes, stirring occasionally adding a little water if necessary. Now add tomato paste, harissa, raisins, Ras el Hanout spice mix and some more olive oil. Cook for a further 10 minutes on low heat.
2. Prepare the couscous by pouring 200ml boiling water on the couscous. Stir with a fork and cover for about 6 minutes. After 6 minutes, separate the grains with a fork and add some olive oil and stir well.
3. Add the couscous to the onion/aubergine mixture and mix well.
4. Put the peppers (with the pepper top) in the microwave for 5-6 minutes on high. Take peppers out and carefully stuff the peppers tightly. Put the stuffed peppers in the microwave again and cook for a further 10 minutes on high. 
5. Alternatively, put the peppers in an oven dish and add some water or tomato sauce at the bottom of the dish. Bake in a 200°C preheated oven for about 40-50 minutes.
6. Mix the laban ingredients together.
7. Serve with the yoghurt and pita bread.

Enjoy!!

R&A