I am not the type of person to say, “These eggs will change your life”, but these eggs changed my life, so they may also make a sizeable dent in yours. The recipe is based on (but not authentic to) the Turkish dish menemen. There is much to love about these eggs, not least how magnificently delicious they are and how fun it is to scoop them up with hot flatbread. On a practical note, meanwhile, they can be eaten at any mealtime and, if not finished, reheated later. Which, if you love eggs and leftovers as much as I do, is a (small) dream come true.

Turk-ish eggs with lemon yoghurt

Prep 10 min
Cook 45 min
Serves 4

40g pine nuts
200g greek yoghurt
1 lemon, zest finely grated, then juiced to get 1½ tbsp
1¾ tsp fine sea salt
3½ tbsp rose harissa paste
Extra-virgin olive oil
1 brown onion, peeled and finely chopped
2 green peppers (400g), stalks, pith and seeds discarded, flesh very finely chopped
4 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
2 tbsp sun-dried tomato paste
2 400g tins chopped tomatoes
30g flat-leaf parsley, leaves and tender stems only, finely chopped
6 large eggs
Flatbreads, warmed, to serve

Put the pine nuts in a wide pan for which you have a lid, turn on the heat to low and stir every now and then until they turn nut brown all over. Transfer to a plate.

Meanwhile, in a small bowl, mix the yoghurt with the lemon zest and juice, and a quarter-teaspoon of salt. In another small bowl, make a harissa oil to dress the eggs with by mixing a tablespoon of the harissa with four tablespoons of olive oil.

Put four tablespoons of olive oil in the empty pine nut pan on a medium heat. When hot, add the onion, peppers and a teaspoon and a half of salt, then cook, stirring often, for 18-20 minutes, until very soft. Stir in the garlic, sun-dried tomato paste and the remaining two and a half tablespoons of harissa, then add the chopped tomatoes and let everything bubble and blip away for 10 minutes.

Fold the parsley through the sauce, then crack the eggs into the tomato mixture and cover with a lid for a minute. Gently break up the eggs, so they marble through the sauce (don’t overmix), pop the lid back on for another minute, or until the yolks and whites are just set, then take off the heat.

To serve, scoop a quarter of the egg and tomato mixture into each of four shallow bowls. Top with a generous spoonful of yoghurt and a spoonful of harissa oil, followed by a good sprinkling of pine nuts, then serve straight away with warmed flatbreads.