Campfire Cast-Iron Shakshuka with Charred Peppers and Baked Eggs

Set a cast-iron skillet over a campfire burned down to steady embers with a low flame — you want even medium heat, not a roaring blaze.

Serves 4

Ingredients

• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 2 red bell peppers, halved
• 1 yellow onion, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1/2 tsp chili flakes
• 1 can (400g) crushed tomatoes
• 6 large eggs
• Handful fresh cilantro and parsley, chopped
• Salt and cracked black pepper
• Crusty bread or flatbread, to serve

Instructions

1. Set a cast-iron skillet over a campfire burned down to steady embers with a low flame — you want even medium heat, not a roaring blaze.
2. Lay the pepper halves cut-side down directly on the grate or in the dry skillet and char until blistered and blackened in spots, about 6 minutes. Pull off, let cool, then slice into strips.
3. Add the olive oil to the skillet, then the onion, and cook 5 minutes until softened and lightly caramelized at the edges.
4. Stir in the garlic, cumin, smoked paprika and chili flakes and cook 1 minute until fragrant, then add the charred pepper strips.
5. Pour in the crushed tomatoes, season with salt and pepper, and simmer 8-10 minutes until the sauce thickens and darkens.
6. Make six wells in the sauce and crack an egg into each. Cover with a lid or foil and cook 5-7 minutes, until the whites set but the yolks stay soft.
7. Pull the skillet off the heat, scatter with cilantro and parsley, and serve straight from the pan with bread for scooping.
8. Shakshuka is a North African and Tunisian breakfast institution — its name means 'a mixture' in Tunisian Arabic — built for cooking eggs in whatever simmering sauce the cook has on hand. Charring the peppers over open fire before they melt into the sauce is a desert-camp trick that deepens the whole dish with smoke, and a single shared skillet eaten with torn bread is exactly the kind of unfussy, communal meal that suits a campsite morning.

Nutrition (estimated, per serving)

• Calories: 320 kcal
• Protein: 15g
• Fat: 20g
• Carbohydrates: 20g
• Fiber: 5g
• Sugar: 10g
• Sodium: 560mg