I love trying new restaurants and dining out, but my real passion is throwing down in my kitchen with high-quality ingredients. Shopping in gourmet food stores is fun, but I don’t always know what to select, and it’s easy to be overwhelmed by all the choices. When The Taste Box offered to send me one of their curated ingredient boxes to try, I jumped at the chance!

Check out The Taste Box, and get 50% off your first order here, using the coupon code GIRLSONFOOD.

I received their Pasta is Love box for free, but all opinions are my own.

This box contained seven items that would have cost over $60 if individually purchased.

• Centonze Olive Oil
• Strianese Pomodoro tomatoes
• Il Tartufo Di Palolo Black Truffle Oil
• Just a Pinch Fleur de Sel
• Afeltra Spaghetti
• Conserve Del Nonna Basil Tomato Sauce
• Conserve Del Nonna Arrabbiata Sauce

While there were some recipes included for inspiration, I used the olive oil, fleur de sel, and basil tomato sauce from The Taste Box to create my spin on shakshuka – a dish of eggs poached in tomato sauce.

Shakshuka

Ingredients:

4-5 cloves of garlic, chopped
1 onion, sliced
2 cups sliced sweet or mild peppers
1 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
2 tbsp olive oil
a jar of your favorite tomato sauce – I used Conserve Del Nonna Tomato Sauce
Fleur de Sel to taste (or your on-hand salt)
4 eggs
black pepper to taste
toasted ciabatta bread for serving

I started off by sautéing the garlic and half of the red pepper flakes in olive oil, over a medium heat. Use a large saucepan to avoid overcrowding your ingredients; you’ll need room for the eggs later.

Allow the garlic to cook for about a minute before adding the onions and peppers. Cooking your pepper flakes and garlic first helps flavor the olive oil, adding more flavor to your dish. Stir to coat peppers and onions in the olive oil mixture, cover and allow to cook for about 10-12 minutes, or until onions are translucent.

Pour in your sauce, and continue cooking for an additional 5-10 minutes. This jar was a little more than 12 oz; you could use more sauce depending on your tastes.

Next, I cracked my eggs directly into the sauce and covered the pan. I allowed my eggs to cook for about 10 minutes, while I simultaneously toasted some ciabatta bread in the oven, if you prefer harder eggs, add 2-3 minutes to your cook time.

Garnish with fresh basil, the remaining red pepper flakes, and black pepper as desired, and enjoy!

Would you like to receive a fun, curated box with 3-4 full sized ingredients? Check out The Taste Box, and get 50% off your first order here, using the coupon code GIRLSONFOOD.