Menemen is a nice and light (as well as healthy) Turkish style egg dish. Typically, this dish consists of green peppers, tomatoes, and eggs but sometimes people add in other things like garlic, onion and even cheese. Think of this as a Turkish style omelette or shakshuka. 

 

Ingredients:

-10 to 13 small sweet peppers (or 1 large bell pepper) 

-5 medium sized tomatoes 

-1 tablespoon butter 

-1 tablespoon oil 

-2 eggs 

-A handful of parsley as a garnish 

-A dash of salt and pepper 

-1/2 teaspoon sugar 

-optional spiciness: use a dash of red pepper flakes or use a seeded spicy pepper like jalapeño or habanero (cook it with the rest of the peppers) 

 

Instructions:

1.) Score the bottom of your tomatoes. This means making an X at the bottom with a knife. This will help you more easily peel the tomatoes.  

2.) Simmer some water in a small pot. While the water is still at a simmer, add in the 5 tomatoes. Let them boil for about 2 minutes. 

3.) As soon as the 2 minutes are over, put the tomatoes in an ice bath. This is so the tomato skin gets shocked and is easy to peel off. 

4.) Peel the tomatoes and chop each tomato into chunks (about 6 cubes per tomato) Toss the peel. We will not be using them. 

5.) In a pan, add in the butter and oil. Allow the butter to melt and then add in the peppers. Sauté the peppers on medium-low heat until they develop a slight caramelization. This gives them even more flavor. This should take anywhere between 5-10 minutes depending on your heat level. Just make sure to keep an eye on it so it doesn’t burn! 

6.) When the peppers have reached a nice caramelization point, add in the peeled tomato chunks. Add in the 1/2 teaspoon sugar at this point as well and stir. The sugar combats the acidity of the tomato.

7.) Allow everything to cook together for about 10-15 minutes. You want the wateriness of the tomatoes to disappear and end up with just the cooked tomato chunks. Once you have reached that point, add in your eggs. You can leave the eggs whole (ie sunny side up) or you can scramble them in gently to make it into an omelette. Whatever your preference. 

8.) Add salt and a dash of black pepper once the eggs are done cooking. 

NOTE: Crack the eggs into a bowl first! This is to prevent any shells from getting into your dish. If you accidentally crack some of the shell into the bowl, it is easier to remove that then when it is mixed in with the other ingredients. 

 

Enjoy!