This is a delicious Turkish breakfast dish, loosely based on shakshuka, but with the addition of some meat and more cheese. The common meats used in Turkey are processed sausages that don’t need pre-cooking, but this recipe uses common American breakfast meats that will need to be cooked first.
Using a grater is a great way to process the tomato while leaving the skin behind.
Cooking the peppers in butter, before adding the tomatoes.
4-6 Roma tomatoes, or 2-3 regular tomatoes (or a can of crushed tomatos)
2 gloves garlic, cracked but still in one piece.
2-4 eggs
½ tsp red pepper flakes, paprika, or hot sauce
Parsley
¼-½ cup melting cheese (provolone, mozzarella, etc)
Instructions
Heat your pan or skillet on medium heat.
Add a little olive oil and the meat. Cook the meat until done and then remove. Turn the heat down to low.
Add the butter and heat gently until the butter clarifies (i.e. the fat and milk separates), then allow the milk to brown a little in the bottom of the pan.
Thinly slice the peppers or chilies
Add the peppers to the pan and cook while you process the tomatoes (2-3 minutes).
Peel the tomatoes by quartering them and running them over a coarse grater. This will allow you to remove the skins while also making the tomatoes smoother for the recipe.
Add the tomatoes and the cracked garlic cloves to the pan and then put a lid on the pan and cook slowly for 6-10 minutes.
Remove the garlic cloves and add the meat back and 2 large pinches of the cheese and mix through.
Add the eggs, and mix them in to break them up, but not really scrambled. Cook until the whites are just firmed up and are no longer runny.
Put the rest of the grated cheese over the top, and then garnish with the red pepper or paprika and some parsley.
Cover the pan to melt the cheese.
There is no added salt in this recipe, as the meat and cheese will add salt. You can add more salt to taste if you like.
Serve with a hot sweet tea and some toasted slices of rustic bread. Use the toast to dip into the Menemen for eating.
