Rainy day recipe: Whip up a filling meal with a few ingredients
By their very nature, baked potatoes are vessels. When you think of it that way, what you dream up to put in one runs the gamut from butter, salt, and pepper to this deceptively easy Baked Potato Shakshuka.
Shakshuka is a favorite in several areas of the world. It’s usually a tomato sauce base with greens, and eggs nestled into the sauce to cook. Here, the same idea is used to make a baked potato into an easy meal.
When I say easy, I mean it. This isn’t a ploy to use the word “easy” to entice you into cooking this potato; this is a full disclosure on a recipe that is absolutely delicious and enjoyable to prepare and serve.
How you make this easy is by getting a leg up on the baking of the potatoes. Then you can use your favorite jarred marinara or your own recipe. The options are yours for the making and taking. Choosing the sauce is the hard part. After that, it’s a quick dance that includes adding a dash of cayenne for a flicker of heat, cracking an egg, drizzling olive oil and popping the potato into the oven to cook the egg until it sets.
Hali Bey Ramdene is the food editor of TheKitchn.com. Email: editorial@thekitchn.com.
Baked Potato Shakshuka
1 potato, baked
1/2 cup marinara sauce
Pinch of cayenne
1 large egg
Olive oil
Salt to taste
Snipped parsley (optional)
Using a knife, cut the potato in half lengthwise. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Using a fork, generously fluff the inside of the potato, being careful not to tear the skin.
Divide the marinara sauce between the potato halves. Add a pinch of cayenne pepper to each. Using a fork, work the marinara into the potato, adding more as needed so the potato halves are generously filled. Create a well in the center of the marinara sauce.
Crack the egg into a small dish. Gently slide it into the well. Drizzle with olive oil. Broil potatoes 3 to 4 minutes or until the egg whites are set and yolks are thickened but still runny.
Remove the potatoes from the oven and season with salt. Top with parsley.
Note: If your potato is cold out of the refrigerator, wrap it in a paper towel and reheat in the microwave in 30-second intervals until just warm.
Yield: 1 serving (easily scales up as needed).
This story was originally published April 12, 2016 at 12:37 PM with the headline "Rainy day recipe: Whip up a filling meal with a few ingredients."