Simple recipes for Autumn

Eggs with Spicy Tomato Sauce Shakshuka

400g tomato sauce with eggplant
150 ml water
4 medium eggs, beaten
½ tsp salt
½ tsp freshly ground pepper
To serve
Spices
1 tbsp chopped fresh dill
Spinach leaves
Crusty bread
Strained yogurt

In a medium frying pan, add the tomato sauce. Pour 150 ml of water into the empty sauce jar, shake well to remove the residue and add the water to the pan.
Mix the sauce well with the water and heat it slightly over medium heat. Then, lower the heat.
Break the eggs one by one into small bowls. Create small ‘nests’ in the sauce with a spoon and carefully place the eggs in them, being careful not to break the yolks. Add salt and pepper.
Cover the pan with a lid and cook over low heat until the eggs are set (about 3 minutes).
Remove from heat and serve directly from the pan. Season with the spices and garnish with fresh dill and spinach leaves. Serve with toasted bread and strained yogurt.

Traditional Mughra

Before making the mughra, renew the sourdough (dissolve it in water, add flour and knead it to make a dough much larger in volume). Leave for two to three days at room temperature to sour well. From this dough weigh the 120g needed.
Divide the cauliflower into large florets and wash them well. Boil water in a pot with a little extra salt. Once it boils, remove from the heat and blanch the cauliflower florets in the hot water for 2-3 minutes. Remove them with a slotted spoon, lightly salt them and leave them in a colander to dry very well.
Dilute the 120g sourdough with a little water. Work it by hand (or with a wire) until it is completely dissolved and becomes a liquid dough. In a deep plate, mix 45g salt with 20g ground mustard. Dip each cauliflower floret first in the sourdough dough and then roll/wrap it in the dry mixture with the salt and mustard.
Place the bouquets tightly, close together, in a glass container/jar with an open mouth. Continue until all the cauliflower is tightly layered, adding a little of the salt-mustard mixture to each layer. Do not completely fill the jar as during fermentation, bubbles will be created and the liquid may swell.
Pour the remaining sourdough mixture over the cauliflower, just enough to cover it. Close the lid. Shake the containers three to four times a day to mix the liquid and bathe both the top and bottom layers.
Let the preparation mature for one week at room temperature before opening. Serve the mughra as a side dish, drizzled with a little extra virgin olive oil.

Meringue Kisses

Preheat the oven to 120C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
In a mixer on high speed with the wire whisk, beat the zest with the lemon juice until it becomes a stiff meringue. It will take about 6 minutes.
Lower the mixer speed and slowly add the sugar.
Increase speed again and beat until mixture is glossy (about 3 minutes).
Pour in the cornstarch and vanilla, and mix for another 30 seconds.
Take a clean plastic bag and pour in ½ tablespoon of beetroot juice, making sure it covers the inside walls of the bag and does not collect at the bottom.
With a piping bag, transfer the meringue mixture into the bag – you may need to tip it on its side to keep all the beetroot juice from flowing into the corner.
Use a piping bag with a wide star tip form 10cm diametre circles on the parchment paper.
Place the baking sheet in the oven at 120C. Bake for 1 ½ hours.
When the meringues have cooled, place them on a plate and top with spoonfuls of the whipped cream and fresh seasonal fruit of your choice.

Recipes provided by the Lidl food academy. Stasikratous 34, Nicosia 1010. https://www.lidlfoodacademy.com.cy/