Verde Shakshuka, Camp Version
Tomatillo sauce with cumin and smoked paprika, eggs dropped in on top. One skillet over a fire grate.
- calories
- 420
- weight
- 11 oz
- cal / oz
- 38
- protein
- 16 g
- serves
- 2, scales
- prep
- 10 min
- cook
- 25 min
- total time
- 35 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Breakfast
- Dinner
- Grill grate
- Campfire coals
- Canister stove
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Vegetarian
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Olive oil | 2 tbsp | |
|---|---|---|
| Onion | 1 large | chop at home, bag it |
| Canned tomatillos | 1 can, 28 oz | drained, roughly crushed |
| Canned diced green chiles | 1 small can | stands in for the roasted pepper and jalapenos |
| Garlic | 6 cloves | or 2 tsp garlic powder |
| Cumin | 2 tsp | |
| Coriander | 2 tsp | |
| Smoked paprika | 1 tsp | |
| Salt | 1 1/2 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 1 tsp | |
| Eggs | 4 | carried in a rigid egg case in the cooler |
| Corn tortillas | 4 | for scooping |
Method
- Set the skillet on the grate over a moderate bed of coals, or on a stove at medium. Add the oil and the onion. Cook until the onion goes soft and starts to color, about eight minutes.
- Stir in the garlic, cumin, coriander, smoked paprika, salt, and pepper. Thirty seconds, no longer, or the spices turn bitter.
- Add the tomatillos and the green chiles. Crush the tomatillos against the side of the pan with your spoon.
- Let it cook down fifteen minutes, stirring now and then. You want it thick enough that a spoon leaves a track.
- Make four wells in the sauce and crack an egg into each. Cover with a lid or a sheet of foil.
- Cook six to nine minutes, until the whites are set and the yolks still move. Pull the pan off the heat and eat straight out of it with the tortillas.
Tomatillos give this the tang that tomato sauce would not, and canned ones are already soft, so the whole roasting step the original recipe calls for disappears. Canned green chiles do the same job for the bell pepper and jalapenos. That takes an hour of fire-roasting down to one skillet and about twenty-five minutes.
The cook-down before the eggs go in is the part not to rush. A thin sauce lets the eggs slide around and poach unevenly, and you end up with green soup. Cook it until a spoon leaves a track, then make the wells. Cover the pan for the eggs; over coals the heat comes from below only, and the whites will never set on top otherwise.
Packing
Measure the spices and salt into one small bag at home and chop the onion the night before. Eggs and the opened-at-camp can are the only cooler items. Tortillas ride flat against the side of the pack.
Variations
- Swap in 8 oz of dried refried bean flakes rehydrated in the sauce if you want more protein and a thicker base.
- A can of hominy stirred in before the eggs turns it into a full dinner.
- Cotija or queso fresco crumbled over the top if you have cooler space, but it is not dairy-free then.
https://www.lodgecastiron.com/blogs/recipe/fire-roasted-verde-shakshuka