by epicureanodyssey
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1/2 cup
extra virgin olive oil
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1
large onion, small dice
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4
large garlic cloves, peeled and minced
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1 pound
merguez sausage, sliced 1/2-inch thick
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1 tablespoon
ras el hanout, see note above
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1 teaspoon
Spanish sweet smoked paprika
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1 teaspoon
kosher salt
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2
15-ounce cans fire-roasted tomatoes, preferably Muir Glen
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8
extra-large eggs
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1/2 cup
roughly chopped cilantro, stems included
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2 tablespoons
harissa, see note above
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warm crusty bread, for serving
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Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until golden. Toss in the garlic and cook another 2 minutes. Add the merguez and sauté until almost cooked through, about 3 minutes.
Ask the hotline about this step!Lower the heat to medium-low and add the Ras el Hanout, Spanish smoked paprika and salt. Stir to combine and cook for a minute to lightly toast the spices. Add the tomatoes. Turn up the heat to medium and cook until the mixture has thickened slightly, about 5 minutes.
Ask the hotline about this step!Crack the eggs over the mixture, cover and cook until the whites set, but the yolks are still soft.
Ask the hotline about this step!Divide the eggs and ragout among four warm bowls using a large spoon. Top with a sprinkling of cilantro and a teaspoon of Harissa.
Ask the hotline about this step!Serve immediately with crusty bread.
Ask the hotline about this step!I'm a vegetarian, but I wanted to at least attempt to preserve the merguez's texture, so I made this with tempeh. It was delicious! I made it TWICE this week and I'm already craving more.
To me, a poached or fried eggs elevates just about any dish. Glad you enjoyed the Ragout.
I just made this for dinner. I happened to have some merguez sausage on hand and this recipe was recomended by a couple of lovely ladies whose opinions I value. It was amazing. Perfect for this cold rainy night. What is it about a poached egg that transforms a meal? Thanks for sharing.
Don't you just love recipes you can make your own, Deborah!! Glad the "fam" enjoyed it.
I made this for dinner last night using hot Italian chicken sausage. Had harissa and mixed spices I had- it was a big hit! Everyone from my picky eater to my meat and potatoes husband loved it!
I made this last night using hot italian chicken sausage and it was a big hit- everyone loved it!!
I swear I had exactly this egg dish in one of Montreal's trendy brunch places last week... and have been thinking about it ever since. Glad that I can now recreate it!!
Thank you! I could eat this dish breakfast, lunch and dinner. In fact, I just might:-)!
One of the best breakfast dishes I have ever made or had! So unbelievably good.
How lovely of you to make breakfast in bed!! Happy Father's day to all the wonderful fathers in our world!
I just made this for Father's Day breakfast-in-bed, and it was a big success! Just found the recipe last night and was pleasantly surprised to find all of the ingredients at my local supermarket.
This sounds amazing! I love Moroccan food, but this recipe is very unique and my mouth is watering just looking at the picture!
This recipe is definitely a CROWD pleaser. Also, you've never seen my husband eat. I typically prepare this for brunch for friends. You can also use less eggs and freeze the remaining sauce. BTW you can also finish the dish in a 350 degree F oven.
I just made this for brunch and used the merguez recipe in the comments. All was fabulous. I would make a note, this is a lot of food, one could easily get by with just one egg and the meat sauce. I am officially in pain, good pain but pain none the less ;-)
Haven't tried either of these but found the ras el hanout and harissa at Cost Plus World Market. Really inexpensive in comparison to gourmetfoodstore.com.
Variety is the "spice of life." So glad you enjoyed your variations on a theme!!
I saw this recipe and had to make it, unfortunately I did not have the main ingredients. I cut the recipe in half, used 3-4 oz of salami diced instead of sausage, masala & extra hot Indian chili powder instead of harissa. This was really yummy and I look forward to making the dish properly.
Made this for dinner over the weekend...it was great. I especially loved the runny yoke :D
Spanish Chorizo is a perfect substitute!! Kudos to you, Schmaltzy. Chef Lew, I am such a die-hard chile fan, cayenne is a big part of my world. Glad you two enjoyed the Ragout.
Made this earlier in the week for dinner and the flavors are simply great. I used six and not four garlic cloves and added a little cayenne, not so much as dominate but to add to the spices (and being from south Louisiana that's second nature). This is certainly one I'll come back again and again.
I had to substitute chorizo for the merguez and a garlic chili paste for the harissa. It ended up being a little thicker than I anticipated and it was definitely very spicy...but we loved every bite. It was more than enough for two meals for my husband and I, so I separated out half for leftovers before cooking the eggs in it...I guess I just get a little freaked out by saving something I cooked eggs in. It was fantastic.
I would leave the merguez out altogether. Though it adds lots of flavor, the sauce is flavorful enough without it. Add a large pinch of ground cinnamon, cayenne, cumin & coriander to the pan before adding the tomatoes, as these are the spices used to make merguez. You can bulk up the sauce by sautéeing julienned red or yellow bell peppers with the onions, or toss in halved and roasted baby potatoes. My motto, "A recipe is just a guideline." Be creative!!
i didn't have anything on hand to try this - so poached the eggs in green chili instead. awesome with tortillas.
does anyone have a idea how to make it vegetarian? not a must, but i'd love the option.
You could potentially substitute soyrizo or tempeh for the merguez.
I have my Italian version called Cipollata which I have been cooking for years. Being Italian, to me it's a dinner dish rather than breakfast.
http://casa-giardino.blogspot.com/2010/08/cipollata.html
I made my own ras el hanout, used a purchased garlic chili paste and delicious fresh chicken chorizo from my local market. Had it for dinner. Very spicy very very delicious and easy. I made it during our kitchen renovation in cheap electric frying pan. The only thing is, the chiorzo was delicate and I cut it up before cooking so it just disintegrated into a meat sauce. Still really good.
Thank you, nutcakes! Kudos for being creative...recipes are JUST a guideline!! There is a recipe for Ras el Hanout on my web site, www.epicureanodyssey.com.
Excellent version casa-giardino! I'm simply not buying the Libyan invention version. The tomato traveled from the New World with Colombus. As far as I know he didn't make a detour to Libya. In fact the tomato wasn't even accepted as food in Europe until the late 18th Century. It arrived in Italy from Spain. Naples at the time was controlled by the Bourbon Spanish throne (Kingdom of the Two Sicilies). The tomato industry flourished in the Neapolitan volcanic soil. And yeah, I prefer it for dinner too.
I loved this dish, I used a lower amount of oil. Being lazy and not having ras al hanout, I just looked up a recipe and put a pinch of each spice I had on hand in. But I liked it enough to buy or make up some for future. I used andouille sausage I had on hand. leftover sauce was nice on top of fresh poached eggs.
Smokin'inTokyo, you can send you email address through my web site if you'd like.
Smokin'inTokyo, I'd love to send photos...but need an email address. We lived in Yokohama in '96/'97...LOVED IT!!
I always appreciate food history, "piereno"!! Thank you for your contribution to the history of this dish. And, "gingerroot", I'm thrilled you made this for Christmas breakfast. If you want an another easy and very spicy harissa recipe, it's under "recipes" on my web site, www.epicureanodyssey.com, as well as many other Moroccan recipes. We had a Oaxacan Mole Christmas dinner last night for 8 friends...YUM!!
Thank you for sharing your web site. I have a hard time finding exotic spices, so I was thankful to get your harissa recipe. Love your Supper Club Idea, I've just started one based on cities and regions of the USA. I'd like to see some of your Supper Club pictures!
Made this for Christmas breakfast...absolutely delicious and easy to put together. I made a batch of TasteFood's Harissa - yum! I will definitely make this again and again. Thanks for a great recipe!
First of all this sounds great. However it's actually a riff on a Neapolitan dish referred to as Eggs in Purgatory (which is my own signature so I know about it). Not long ago I had a disagreement with an editor at Saveur regarding a similar Israeli dish which they attributed to springing from Libya. Yes, in a way BUT if you follow the history of the tomato it traveled from the New World to Spain and on to Italy where it flourished in Naples. My theory is that this dish arrived in Libya with Mussolini's men in the thirties and migrated west through the Mediterranean and east into the Levant after that.
Good question, adambravo. So to simplify, you crack and cook all 8 eggs over the prepared ragout. Spoon sa portion ragout into a warm bowls, then top each portion with 2 eggs, a sprinkling of cilantro and a bit of harissa. Repeat with the 3 remaining bowls. I hope this clarifies the recipe for you. ENJOY!
Sounds delish, but I think I'm misreading something: "Spoon the ragout into four warm bowls, top with two eggs, a sprinkling of cilantro and a teaspoon of Harissa." You're supposed to have eight eggs total--so is that four eggs in the ragout and one egg in each bowl? And is each egg broken raw (and served as such) over the ragout?
Thank you! I've just returned from Morocco, and I must say this recipe rivals any of the traditional Moroccan ones I had while there. ENJOY!
Oops, I actually made "merguez meatballs" for a different version for the Supper Club. If you'd like the recipe, it is on my web site, www.epicureanodyssey.com. Click on Recipes, then Entrees, then Merguez Sausage.
I've just returned from Morocco where I had this dish several times. It's one of my favorites to make for a crowd. I made it for my World Breakfast Supper Club recently. You can prepare the meatballs and ragout ahead of time, then rewarm in a 375-degree oven, crack the eggs on top and bake if doubling or tripling the recipe. Glad you enjoyed it!!
I am new to this site and when I stumbled across this recipe I was excited to make it. It didn't disappoint. Truly delicious and the house smells fabulous too. Thank you! I am looking forward to making it again, soon.
Ooooo, I really like the idea of individual servings. I have some small Spanish cazuelas I can use. Thanks for the tip!
I made quite a similar dish using individual, single-serving cast iron casseroles - one egg per person per casserole. I finished the ragout on top of stove, spooned in the casseroles, cracked the eggs in then put the casseroles, with lids on, in a warn oven for some 10 minutes (but check often to see when it's done to your tastes). Makes for a lovely presentation and, as someone said, makes it easier to scale down the recipe. (also, you can keep the leftover ragout in the fridge/freezer, and eat it with a freshly poached egg every time :)
Very nice idea to use a spicy sausage and thanks for the merguez recipe!
Always on the lookout for rich lo-carb recipes. I have done many poached egg recipes-but this is a novel direction!
Made it for dinner a few nights ago, using bulk merguez which worked fine. it was good, but i didn't love it. i think, perhaps, i'm not that big a fan of this flavor profile. it did make a nice dinner w/the runny eggs and crusty bread, but wasn't a favorite.
I fell in love with the recipe the first time I read it and I knew I had to make it right away. I bought Merguez at Uli's and spices from Pike place market here in seattle. This recipe is quick, easy and delicious. Also a real crowd pleaser. Recipe can be scaled up pretty easily if eggs are poached separately and then served over the ragout. Served this with baguette and white wine with Looza Apricot nectar.
I made this wonderful recipe this week and it was a big hit at my house. The great thing for me, besides the wonderful blend of flavors, was that I put it together in about 30 minutes! Amazingly, I found a small box of Ras el Hanout at a local Whole Foods, and it's now my fnew avorite spice blend. The eggs cooked a little faster than I thought they would and I'll check in on them a little earlier next time, but this was perfect with the recipe for the merguez meatballs recipe ecswantner posts below. The flavors are perfect with the lamb for this recipe. Thanks so much for posting!
This looks delicious! I spent a great deal of time in Morocco years ago, and this is similar to one of my favorite dishes, Tagine Kefta, which is pretty much exactly the same, but substitutes the merguez for small seasoned (similar to the seasonings in the recipe posted for merguez) beef meatballs. Thank you so much for posting this recipe - I look forward to trying it!
Saving this one. Thank you!
One more thing, I agree with reducing the amount of olive oil to 1/4 cup.
Thanks for the scrumptious comments!!
Merguez is really easy to make. If have a few minutes, mix together 1 pound ground lamb with 1/4 cup finely minced cilantro stems, 1 1/2 TBS ras el hanout, 2 minced garlic cloves, 1 TBS harissa, 1 TBS extra virgin olive oil and kosher salt to taste. Roll into sausage-like cylinders, store in plastic wrap and refrigerate until ready to use. VOILA, Merguez.
A really fine commercial blend of ras el hanout and smoked paprika can be ordered at wholespice.com
This looks fabulous! It's exactly my favorite kinds of foods and spices. Can't wait to try it! Congrats!!
Ladies, you're killing me with all this paprika. Must order online.:)
Try The Spice House (thespicehouse.com), or Penzeys, online - both are really wonderful resources for almost any kind of spice.
Congratulations! This sounds great. We used to buy merguez all the time in Geneva, but I have yet to find a good source here that resembles the thin dry spicy merguez we loved.
A very worthy Wildcard winner!
My mouth is watering. I'll try this soon for sure.
Thanks!!
Making merguez is very simple. I don't stuff it into casings, just roll it into a cylinder.
Also, nothing better than a good piperade! Keep on cookin'!
this looks absolutely awesome. I love cooking with Moroccan ingredients, especially merguez. I'm sure this is a fabulous bed for the eggs. I actually submitted a similar dish using piperade as the base. Love it!
Shuna is the Pastry Chef at Peels Restaurant in NYC and author of the acclaimed blog Eggbeater.
I just bought a jar of harissa and ran across this again... I can't wait! I'm SO EXCITED to eat this. I'm thinking this will be a special New Year's Day brunch with Bloody Marys :)