Sweet potato shakshuka with sriracha butter
Yotam Ottolenghi's unique twist on a classic shakshuka brings together myriad sweet and savoury flavours, topped off with a rich, spicy sriracha butter.
Ingredients
- 1kg/2lb 4oz sweet potatoes, skin on and scrubbed clean
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 150g/5½oz mature cheddar, roughly grated
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 tsp cumin seeds, roughly crushed with a pestle and mortar
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 8 medium free-range eggs
- 2 tbsp fresh coriander leaves, with some stem attached
- salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the pickled onions
- 1 small red onion, thinly sliced into rounds
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
For the sriracha butter
Method
Preheat the oven to 220C/200C Fan/Gas 7. Poke the sweet potatoes all over with a fork (about 8–10 times) and place them on a parchment-lined baking tray. Bake for 45–50 minutes, or until cooked through and softened. Set aside to cool and turn the oven temperature down to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6.
Meanwhile, make the pickled onion. Mix together the onion, lemon juice and a pinch of salt in a small bowl and set aside to pickle.
Remove the cooked potato skins and tear them into roughly 4cm/1½in pieces. Transfer the potato flesh to a large bowl and set aside. Place the skins back on the baking tray and toss with 1 tablespoon olive oil, ¼ teaspoon of salt and a good grind of black pepper. Bake for 8 minutes, or until nicely coloured and starting to crisp. Set aside to cool and crisp further.
Mash the potato flesh with a fork until smooth, then add the cheddar, garlic, cumin, another tablespoon of olive oil, the remaining tablespoon of lemon juice, a teaspoon of salt and a generous grind of black pepper. Mix to combine.
Pour the remaining tablespoon of olive oil into a large frying pan, for which you have a lid, and swirl around to coat the bottom. Spoon the mashed potato mixture into the pan, using your spoon to distribute it evenly. Place over a medium-high heat and leave to cook for about 7 minutes, until the bottom starts to colour. Turn the heat down to low and use a spoon to make eight wells in the potato mixture, breaking an egg into each. Sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper, cover with the lid and cook for 4–5 minutes, rotating the pan occasionally, until the whites are set and the yolks are still runny.
While the eggs are cooking, put the butter and sriracha into a small saucepan on a medium heat and cook until the butter has melted, whisking constantly to emulsify. Remove the mixture from the heat before it starts to bubble, you don’t want it to split.
When ready, spoon the sriracha butter all over the eggs, then top with a good handful of crispy potato skins, half the pickled onion and all the picked coriander leaves. Serve right away with the rest of the potato skins and pickled onion to eat alongside.