These personal pizzas have all the mouthwatering flavors of Shakshuka– the popular Middle Eastern dish of eggs simmered in an aromatic tomato sauce—but here the sauce is spread onto pitas, topped with fresh spinach, eggs and feta cheese, and baked until the eggs are set and the cheese is melty. The pita pizzas are a complete meal on their own, with protein from the egg, whole grain pita and lots of vegetable nutrition, including a bounty of lycopene from the crushed tomatoes and tomato paste.
This recipe makes twice the amount of sauce you need to make a batch of 4 pizzas. Leftover sauce will keep in the refrigerator for 4 days or in the freezer for 6 months. If you can’t find no-salt-added crushed tomatoes, omit the salt from the sauce recipe.
Shakshuka Pita Pizzas
Ingredients
For the sauce:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 medium cloves garlic, minced
One 15-ounce can no-salt-added crushed tomatoes (1 ½ cups)
¼ cup finely chopped roasted red pepper (rinsed if jarred)
2 teaspoons tomato paste
1 teaspoons honey
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon ground coriander
¼ teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
For the pizzas:
4 whole wheat pitas
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 cups spinach leaves, chopped
4 large eggs
½ cup crumbled feta or goat cheese (2 ounces)
Crushed red pepper flakes, to taste
Directions
Make the sauce: Heat the oil in a medium saucepan over a medium heat. Add the garlic and cook, stirring, until it is golden, 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes, roasted red pepper, tomato paste, honey, cumin, and coriander, salt and crushed red pepper flakes. Bring to a boil then reduce the heat to medium-low and cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened and the ingredients have melded, 15 minutes. You will wind up with about 1 1/3 cups sauce, twice as much as you need for this pizza recipe. Leftover sauce will keep in the refrigerator for 4 days or in the freezer for 6 months.
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Spray a sheet pan with oil spray. Place the pita breads on the baking sheet, and brush the tops of them with the oil. Then spread about 2 ½ tablespoons of the sauce on top of each bread. Top each with ¼ of the spinach. Make a well in the center of the topping of each pizza. Crack an egg into a small bowl, then transfer the egg to one of the wells in the center of a pizza. Repeat with the remaining eggs. (It’s OK if some of the egg drips off the pizza, but try to contain in in the well.)
Sprinkle the pizzas with the feta cheese then place in the oven and bake until the egg whites are set but the yolks are still soft, 12-13 minutes. Let rest on the tray for 2 minutes before serving. Season with additional crushed red pepper to taste.
Makes 4 servings
Serving size: 1 pizza
Per serving:
Calories 360; Total Fat 16 g; Sat Fat 4.5 g; Protein 16 g; Carb 42 g; Fiber 2 g; Cholesterol 200 mg; Sodium 640 mg; Total Sugar 5 g (Added Sugar 1g )
