Pork Shakshuka: Skillet Pork, Spinach & Peppers
With it containing meat, it’s no traditional shakshuka, but the idea of poaching eggs in the middle of the dish – and seasoning it with paprika - is the same. Now, if you’re working out a lot, trying to lose weight or generally quite active, this is going to be a great meal for you - because it’s high in protein, and low in carbs. And with around 400 calories in each serving, it’s not too fattening.
Ingredients
Instructions
13 steps
Heat up your pan.
Remove any fat from the pork then cut into inch cubes.
Pour ½ tbsp olive oil into the pan.
Place the pork in the pan. Season with salt, pepper, and paprika and cook the pork until it’s slightly browned all over and all the pink has gone (about 5 mins).
While the pork is cooking, chop up the onion, jalapeno, and bell pepper.
Remove the pork from the pan and set aside.
Add remaining olive oil to the pan and let it heat up.
Add chopped onion, jalapeno, and bell pepper to the pan. Mix with oil and cook until onions are translucent (about 3 minutes).
Add spinach to the mix and stir it in, to coat it with oil. Cook until the spinach wilts (about 1 minute).
Put the pork back in the pan. Mix well with the vegetables.
Make little wells in the meat and veg mix - this is where you’re going to put your eggs.
Crack the eggs into the pan, cover with a tight-fitting lid or aluminium foil. Take care if you’re using foil – when you remove it, the steam from the dish can burn! Cook for 4-5 minutes or until egg whites are no longer runny.
Serve up your Tasty Pork Shakshuka
Notes: Background
Shakshouka
- A popular dish in Tunisia, where it’s traditionally served in a cast iron pan or tajine.
- Traditional recipes are very basic, consisting merely of crushed tomatoes, hot peppers, garlic, salt, paprika, olive oil and poached eggs.
- Because eggs are usually the main ingredient, it’s often on breakfast menus, but with more and more people eating shakshuka and variations of the dish, it’s become a popular lunchtime and evening meal too.
- Food historians claim the dish was invented in the Ottoman Empire, spreading throughout the Middle East and Spain, where it is often served with spicy sausage.
Photos
Notes: Ingredients and Nutritional Value
Protein in dish (1 serving = 1 pork chop + 2 eggs) = 53.5g
Our bodies need protein for a number of other reasons:
- Hair and nails (both are predominantly made of protein)
- Building and repairing tissues (protein is an important building block of bones, muscles, cartilage, skin, and blood)
- Making enzymes (aids digestion), hormones (balanced hormones = balanced mood), and other body chemicals
Protein is also good for weight-loss:
- Helps you feel fuller for longer (by slowing digestion) – so you’re less likely to go back for seconds, or snack soon after your meal.
- By eating less, you’ll begin to lose fat, but you can also lose muscle mass (our bodies take energy from both). But by eating lots of protein, you can maintain your muscles – which is good news, because lean muscle tissue burns calories!
Paprika
- A spice made from dried chili peppers
- You could experiment with the type of paprika you use in this dish – or, indeed, leave it out completely
- There are two types of paprika: smoked and unsmoked.
- There are ‘sweet’ and ‘hot’ versions of both smoked and unsmoked paprika
- Smoked paprika – hot or sweet – has a very distinctive BBQ taste
- Unsmoked paprika, especially sweet unsmoked paprika, has a more subtle taste
- Hot paprika – smoked or unsmoked – has a kick, but it’s not as hot as chili powder for example
