sheet pan shakshuka
+ thoughts on "balancing" motherhood and work
This week, I’ve been in 100% mom mode.
Due to a chaotic combination of my son being on summer break from preschool, my husband Matthew out of town for work, and our beloved part-time nanny going on vacation meant that this week I was singlehandedly taking care of two rowdy toddlers, our fluffy goldendoodle, and a vegetable farm. Oh, and just to make it more interesting, this whole week we were in a legit heat wave, with heat indexes in the triple digits every day. Cool cool cool.
Was this week exhausting and hard and sweaty and did it test every ounce of my patience? YES.
Was it sweet and silly and make me love my two wildly different, wildly blonde children even more than I thought possible? Also yes. We spent the week playing with trains, swinging and sliding (and sweating) at the park, picking tomatoes, going for walks on our country road, building forts, swimming in a tiny blow up pool in the backyard, and watching Curious George while cuddled up on the couch. (To be clear, we also spent the week having epic meltdowns, fighting over toys, falling and scraping knees, refusing to take naps, and generally being a bit grumpy).
All that said… I really love being a mom. My kids are genuinely my greatest joy in this life. I’ve been super intentional about scaling back the farm these past few years so I can focus on our family, and I know that I will never, ever regret stepping back to take this fleeting time with them. And I also know that my work – farming, teaching workshops, writing this newsletter – fuels me in a different way and pushes me to be the best version of myself and the best mom for my kids. So I’ve also had to be intentional about carving out time in my week to work outside in the dirt, develop new recipes, and to write my little heart out.
Speaking of which… bless Matthew for knowing that I desperately needed some peace and quiet, so this newsletter is being written today purely thanks to the fact that he threw the kids in the car and went on an adventure this morning. (FYI, the “adventure" was our son’s favorite activity, which is visiting our local John Deere store where the workers get a kick out of letting the kids sit and play on all the shiny new tractors in their showroom. Bless them.)
Needless to say, I don’t have much farm content to share this week, and I am SO thankful for my dream farm team, Hannah and Ginger, who had everything totally under control and rocked out our CSA boxes on Tuesday. But stay tuned next week, because I’ll be sharing a ton of helpful and practical tips for planting a successful fall vegetable garden.
PS – if you have any gardening or cooking related questions, I’m here to help! Send in your questions on our private community HELP LINE, there’s no question too big or small. :)
Keep reading for this week’s new recipe, sheet pan shakshuka. It’s the first Friday of the month, which means the recipe is available to ALL subscribers!
Shakshuka! Fun to say, fun to eat. And in today’s recipe, it’s even more fun to cook thanks to this brilliantly easy, hands-off sheet pan method.
Shakshuka is a traditional North African dish with lots of variations, but in most every version you’ve got a hearty tomato sauce filled with onions, peppers and warming spices, and then you crack some eggs into the warm, tomato-y goodness until they are gently poached. Enjoy it straight from the pan, or serve over a bed of basmati rice or creamy polenta, and top with some fresh parsley or cilantro, salty feta cheese, and maybe some creamy diced avocado.
Shakshuka is typically made in a skillet on the stovetop, but if you’ve read this far, you know that your girl ain’t got no time/energy to stand at the stove and stir (and most likely, you don’t have the time/energy either) – so it’s a sheet pan to the rescue.
All together this needs about an hour in the oven, but the recipe is entirely unfussy and straightforward and you’ll definitely want some warm, crusty bread to mop up every bit of leftover sauce. We’re in peak summer y’all, and it’s honestly the most delicious time to whip up some shakshuka… so get going and let me know how it goes!
Keep reading for the full recipe (and a handy 1-page PDF for easy printing).
PS – This week *everyone* gets access today’s recipe! If you enjoy this newsletter and want to receive a new hyper-seasonal recipe every Friday, consider becoming a paid subscriber. Paid subscribers also get access to my (ever-growing) full recipe archive, handy gardening guides, video tutorials, and access to our private community Help Line.
Sheet Pan Shakshuka
Serves 4-6
INGREDIENTS
2 pints (4 cups) cherry tomatoes, halved
2 red bell peppers, seeded and diced into 1/2” pieces
1 yellow onion, diced
4 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon paprika
1 teaspoon cumin
1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt, divided
¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
1 28-ounce can crushed tomatoes (or 1 jar marinara sauce will also work)
6 eggs
1 cup crumbled feta cheese, for serving
Finely chopped fresh parsley or cilantro, for serving
PREPARATION
Preheat oven to 400℉.
In a large bowl, combine 4 cups halved cherry tomatoes, 2 diced red bell peppers, 1 diced yellow onion, 4 minced garlic cloves, 2 tablespoons olive oil, 1 tablespoon paprika, 1 teaspoon ground cumin, 1 teaspoon kosher salt, and ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes.
Pour the veggies out onto a rimmed baking sheet and spread everything out in an even layer. Roast in the oven for 30 minutes, stirring once halfway through cooking, until the vegetables have softened and are beginning to brown.
Pour 1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes onto the baking sheet and use a spatula or spoon to combine with the vegetables. Place the baking sheet back in the oven for 5 minutes to allow the flavors to meld and the tomato sauce to warm up.
Remove the baking sheet from the oven once more and use the back of a large spoon to make 6 evenly spaced divots in the sauce. One by one, crack 6 eggs and pour each egg into one of the divots. (I recommend cracking each egg into a bowl one at a time before pouring into the sauce, to make sure you don’t get any eggshells in the mix). Sprinkle ½ teaspoon kosher salt over the eggs.
Return the baking sheet to the oven and bake until the eggs are cooked, 10 to 15 minutes, until the egg whites are set and the yolks are cooked to your liking. In my oven, after 10 minutes the eggs have runny yolks, and after 15 minutes the yolks have fully hardened, so I usually leave them in for about 12 minutes for a perfectly soft yolk).
Remove the baking sheet from the oven and top everything with 1 cup crumbled feta cheese and a generous amount of freshly chopped parsley or cilantro. Enjoy on its own or served over warm rice or creamy polenta and toasted bread.
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I make a version of this every time I break my fast, on the top of the stove in my cast iron pan. Add some green splotches with the eggs, spinach, green beans, whatever is in the freezer. Leftover veg, beans and potatos get stirred in also.
Have you used fresh tomatoes instead of the canned ones this time of year?