I like to make Dave a proper lunch on a Saturday when he comes home from work. Menemen seemed like the perfect meal to me, and it was. This is a really tasty egg scramble that can be scooped up and eaten with flatbreads.
Head straight on to the Recipe For ♥ Menemen ♥
What is menemen and why did I make it?
I was inspired to make menemen when I saw it on Chef Mimi’s blog. We too had been in Turkey last year, but we were not there for breakfast, and so this was new to me. It is a popular breakfast dish made using eggs, tomatoes, green peppers and spices. The name originates from a small town in Izmir Province, and at breakfast it will be served with bread. Onions may be added when serving this as a main dish.
Traditional preparation
Fresh tomatoes are finely diced or grated, or a combination of the two textures are used. These are cooked in a double handed pan called a suhan, in oil, together with green chillies. Aleppo pepper is added as a spice, and the liquid is cooked out of the tomatoes. Beaten eggs are then added and then cooked like one would do for scrambled eggs. When cooked, the eggs are served in the pan.
What I did
As I was serving the menemen for lunch, I added onions, as did Mimi. However, I did not bother peeling my tomatoes as she did as I don’t like the effort that goes into doing that. I served the menemen on plates as a meal with flatbread seasoned with niter kibbeh. Mine does not look appetising, but it tasted so good that I felt I had to share the recipe.
Take a look at this inspiring recipe for ♥ Menemen ♥ from Lavender and Lime #LavenderAndLime Share on X
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Menemen
Ingredients
- 30 mls olive oil
- 1 medium onion, peeled, cut in half and diced
- 2.5 mls dried orgenano
- 1.25 mls cayenne pepper
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to season
- 1 serrano chilli, seeded and diced
- 380 g cocktail tomatoes, divided
- 5 g fresh flat leaf parsley leaves, chopped, plus a few more to garnish
- 15 g butter
- 4 eggs
- flatbread for serving
Method
- Place the oil into a heavy bottomed frying pan and heat over a medium to high temperature
- Add the onion, oregano and cayenne, season to taste and sauté until soft, lowering the temperature slightly so as to not brown the onions
- Add the chilli and cook until soft
- Roughly chop half of the tomatoes, then add to the onions and cook until all the liquid has evaporated
- Once evaporated, add the parsley and butter and stir to combine
- Purée the other half of the tomatoes in a blender, then tip into a mixing bowl
- Add the eggs and whisk until foamy, then add to the onion mixture and stir to combine
- Continue to cook, stirrring occasionally until the eggs are done to your liking
- Adjust the seasoning, top with some more fresh parsley and serve with flatbreads
See the links below for blog posts I published on February 20:
- 2022: A Slow Fire Burning
- 2019: Field And Fork
- 2017: Ginger Beer Bread
- 2014: Creamy Chicken Pasta
- 2013: Eagle Encounter And Wine Tasting At Spier
- 2012: Three Cheese Chicken Alfredo Bake
The only tomato and egg breakfast dish I make and love is shakshuka . . . this has more taste ‘opportunities’ and uis easier to prepare and serve – shall definitely try . . . and I do use a lot of flatbreads for breakfast/brunch! Thanks!
This is a definite make again for me as well 🙂
Great recipe
Thank you Sheree 🙂
The ingredients looks similar to Shakshuka but scrambled instead of poached eggs. Looks delicious and a perfect idea for lunch (as you said).
I think scrambling the eggs made it quite simple as well 🙂
I’m so glad you made this!!! It’s so good and so easy. Thanks!
Thank you!
Looks delicious. Your husband is a lucky man.
I shall tell him 😉
Cheers to you and Chef Mimi! I was in Turkey this past September. How did I miss this fabulous scrambled egg dish. Tis makes a wonderful anytime meal.
Velva
I am going to try it when we are there in a few months time 🙂
I love an egg scramble but I’d have to leave out the tomatoes 🙂 On the rare occasion that I use tomatoes I tend to grate them if the skin is not desired.
I do the same!