Shakshuka has become trendy in recent years. For good reason, it’s delicious — eggs poached in a sauce of tomatoes, chiles and spices. It makes for a perfect, lazy Sunday brunch (equally good for breakfast, lunch or dinner) and completely adaptable to suit your tastes. I like mine with a good dollop of spicy harissa. However, there’s nothing new per se about shakshuka, which is thought to have originated in North Africa, more specifically, Tunisia or Yemen.

Similar dishes from around the globe include…Mexican huevos rancheros; Uova in Purgatorio or Ova ‘mpriatorio in Neapolitan [eggs in purgatory]; Basque piperade; Spanish pisto, the latter which consists of a sunny side up egg placed on an eggplant and tomato stew, sometimes with chorizo. Yum, yum and yum!!!

Today’s version is a green shakshuka. Swapped out the tomatoes and peppers for an assortment of greens — beet greens, baby kale, dandelion, basil, chives and leeks (although, you could easily alter the types of greens and herbs to your liking) — folded in some creamy Greek yogurt, cracked some eggs on top and finished with crumbled feta cheese, a dusting of sumac and a drizzle of chile oil [a spoonful of harissa in lieu of chile oil would also be nice]. Za’ atar-spiced flatbread rounded out the meal.

The flatbread was nothing more than some leftover pizza dough that I cooked in a cast-iron skillet until charred in spots, drizzled with olive oil and sprinkled with some za’ atar spice.

Green Shakshuka

Olive oil
2 medium leeks, white and light green parts, cleaned well, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, minced
1 jalapeno or serrano chile, minced
6 cups mixed greens, roughly chopped (such as spinach, kale, chard, beet greens, dandelion greens, etc.)
Handful of mixed herbs (such as basil, parsley, dill, chives, fenugreek leaves), plus extra for garnish
Salt and pepper
1/2 cup full-fat Greek yogurt
6 eggs
Feta for topping
Sumac for topping
*Chile oil for topping
Za’ atar flatbread for serving

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the leeks and sauté until tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Add the garlic and chile, and sauté another minute. Add the greens and herbs, season with salt and pepper and sauté until cooked down, about 5 minutes. Stir yogurt into greens.

Reduce the heat to medium-low. Make six indentations in the greens mixture. Crack an egg into each. Cover the skillet and cook until the egg whites are just set but yolks still runny. Turn off the heat, top with crumbled feta and chopped herbs, sprinkle with sumac and drizzle with chile oil.

*For the chile oil: Place 2 to 3 tablespoons chile flakes (such as Calabrian, Aleppo, Urfa Biber or Korean) in a heatproof bowl. Heat up oil of your choice (I used olive oil, but peanut, grapeseed, or canola would work). When sizzling hot, pour the oil over the chile flakes. Let sit, ideally for 24 hours, to allow the chile to fully infuse the oil.