moro top ten: moroccan eggs with tomatoes and cumin

“we ate this at a small kiosk restaurant we had read about in marrakech and it was magical”

from casa moro, this is the second egg dish in the moro top ten. this time the eggs are cooked and served nestled in a sweet, slightly spicy tomato sauce. the picture in the book reminded me a bit of huevos rancheros, a dish i’ve always been to cowardly to cook (and have only recently been brave enough to order, as i slowly get over my childhood dislike of egg white).

so, how did i get on?

i fiddled with the recipe a bit, using shallots in place of spring onions and halved cherry tomatoes in place of the blanched, deskinned and deseeded large tomatoes which the recipe stipulates. the flavour was probably altered by the onion substitution but i don’t think the tomato changes made any difference. the sauce is easy enough to make and tastes really wonderful. cooking the eggs in it was easy and thankfully the egg white set without too much trouble. i’m not sure how you’d get a less runny yolk though, if that is your preference.

the final verdict:

would i have tried this recipe if it hadn't been part of the moro top ten? no – it’s always scared me a little.

would i try this recipe again in the future? yes – i loved this and, as with the revueltos, really like that one egg per person is enough, given the amount of other ingredients in the dish.

moro’s moroccan eggs with tomatoes and cumin (serves 6-8 as a mezze, 4 for a starter, breakfast or light lunch)

600g ripe tomatoes

4 tablespoons olive oil

6 spring onions, trimmed and roughly sliced

4 garlic cloves, sliced

1 level teaspoon cumin seeds. roughly ground

a pinch of cayenne pepper or chilli flakes

½ a teaspoon of caster sugar (optional)

4 medium eggs

3 tablespoons roughly chopped flat leaf parsley

sea salt and black pepper

blanch, peel, quarter and deseed the tomatoes, cutting each quarter in half again if they are large (i used halved cherry tomatoes and skipped this stage).

pour the olive oil into a medium frying pan over a medium heat and fry the spring onion, garlic and cumin until they just start to colour. now add the tomatoes, cayenne or chilli, salt and pepper. you may find it necessary to add a pinch of sugar if the tomatoes are not sweet enough. simmer for 15 minutes or until the tomatoes are cooked but not totally broken up (this took less than 10 minutes for me).

crack an egg into each quarter of the pan. ruffle the whites with a fork so they are thinned out over the surface of the tomatoes. simmer until the eggs are as you like them (1-2 minutes). serve with lots of parsley on top and some warm moroccan bread or pita bread (i served mine on a piece of toast).