Shakshuka Pizza Recipe made with Nellie’s Free Range Eggs

I got very excited when Nellie’s Free Range Eggs (the official egg of the Boston Red Sox!) reached out to me to sponsor my spin on a non-traditional shakshuka recipe. Not every company I work with produces products I normally use in my own home, but in this case we do regularly enjoy Nellie’s Free Range Eggs or Pete and Gerry’s Organic Free Range Eggs (their sister company).

The ideas started to flow and the possibilities to use eggs in an original recipe seemed endless. After a period of dizzying indecision, I settled on a kind making a portable shakshuka one could enjoy while out and about. Maybe even at a ballpark watching the Red Sox (I’m waiting on your call Fenway!)?

The Eggs

Nellie’s offers Certified Humane® (by the non-profit, Humane Farm Animal Care organization) quality chicken eggs. That means no cages and the hens can roam about freely outside, weather permitting. Those seeking organic free range eggs can look to Nellie’s sister company Pete and Gerry’s who also provide free range eggs with the added benefit of organic feed. They’ve recently partnered with Fenway park so that all of the foods served at the ballpark containing eggs are made with Nellie’s.

The Shakshuka Pizza Recipe

My idea for an egg-centric (see what I did there?) recipe focused on highlighting the eggs, but also creating an item that one could perhaps find at Fenway park. I don’t know why, but shakshuka kept popping into my head while brainstorming. It’s a sauce or stew made of tomatoes and peppers with poached eggs made right inside. I love it served with crusty bread or fresh pita. Nonetheless, shakshuka isn’t very ballpark friendly.

Aside from Fenway franks, another staple of ballparks is pizza. With that in mind, I thought about trying something new and creative. The resulting hybrid showcases the eggs through a traditional dish like shakshuka, but served in a non-traditonal way as a pizza.

This shakshuka pizza recipe turned out even better than I imagined. The thicker than usual sauce makes a difference in this recipe so that it doesn’t run when placed on the pizza or make the crust soggy. The eggs poach/bake perfectly in the oven too rather than on the stovetop while the crust of the pizza serves as the crispy bread to scoop up all that delicious shakshuka.

My shakshuka pizza strips might never find their way into Fenway park, but that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t end up in your kitchen!

Shakshuka Pizza Strips

Servings: 4
Prep Time: 30 mins
Cook Time: 20 mins
Time: 50 mins
Difficulty: Easy
Rating: ★★★★★
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This recipe combines delicious shakshuka, perfectly cooked eggs, and pizza crust.

Ingredients

1/2 medium sweet onion
1 large red pepper
1 small jalapeno (optional)
3 tbsps extra virgin olive oil
3/4 tsp cumin powder
3/4 tsp sweet paprika
2 cloves garlic
1 tbsp tomato paste
14.5 oz can of diced tomatoes (You can stew fresh tomatoes for an even more delicious result, but that would take much longer.)
3/4 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp sugar
1/8 tsp black pepper
1 pound pizza dough (You can make your own or just buy some at the grocery store or your favorite bakery.)
4 large Nellie’s Free Range Eggs
1/2 cup crumbled feta or goat cheese
1 tbs fresh parsley or cilantro

Equipment

Large half baking sheet (~18″ x 13″)
Large nonstick or stainless steel pan
Aluminum foil

Directions

Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees F.
Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil and sprinkle the foil with a little bit of flour.
Stretch the pizza dough carefully into a rectangular shape almost the size of the baking sheet. Thick or thin are both good, but it shouldn’t tear or get too thin. Let it rest and proof slightly while preparing the rest of the ingredients.
Finely chop or dice the onion and red pepper.
Crush or finely dice two large cloves of garlic (three if you like it garlicky).
Optionally, de-seed and dice a jalapeno pepper for a touch of heat. Alternatively, use more jalapenos or even a hotter pepper for extra kick.
In a large nonstick pan, add 1 tablespoon of olive oil and set the pan to medium heat.
Once hot, add the onions, peppers, and jalapeno to the pan. Sautee them until soft and the onions are translucent. It’s ok if they take on a little char in the process.
Add the 3/4 teaspoon of cumin and 3/4 teaspoon of paprika to the vegetables while they cook. Stir well.
Add one can of diced tomatoes to the vegetables and 1 tablespoon of tomato paste.
Add in the 1/2 teaspoon of salt, the 1/2 teaspoon or sugar, and the 1/8 teaspoon (or pinch) of black pepper.
Simmer the ingredients and stir occasionally for roughly 10 minutes. The sauce should be a little thick and not too runny. Turn off the heat and let the sauce sit while pre-baking the pizza dough.
Place the stretched pizza dough in the oven for approximately 5 minutes if you’re using a convection oven. If not, try 6 minutes. The goal is to firm up the dough slightly so that the sauce doesn’t make it soggy, but not to crisp or char the dough.
When the dough is pre-baked, remove it from the oven and drizzle one or two tablespoons of olive oil around the edges on over the dough.
Carefully spread the sauce over the dough and use a spoon or spatula to create 4 equally spaced divots in the sauce down the center of the pizza lengthwise. Make sure there’s some sauce between each space so that the eggs don’t leak out of the hole created.
Crack an egg into each of the 4 spaces and sprinkle crumbled feta or goat cheese around the edges of the pizza.
Bake the pizza in the oven for roughly 9 to 10 minutes (perhaps a little longer in a non-convection oven) until the whites of the eggs are set, but not solid. The eggs should jiggle if the tray shakes. If you prefer more thoroughly cooked eggs, then cook them for a minute longer until they barely jiggle when shaken.
Remove the pizza from the oven, garnish with diced parsley or cilantro, and let it cool for a couple of minutes before serving.
I like to cut the pizza into four strips so that there is one egg in each strip. This keeps the egg intact and makes the whole pizza easier to eat.
Cut the pizza strip in half to expose the delicious yolks. Add a pinch of salt to the yolks for the tastiest results.
Use the crust to dip right into the egg if you like.