Last updated: April 2026
Dish: Shakshuka — eggs baked in spiced tomato and pepper sauce
Our twist: Local Herzegovinian peppers, served with somun bread
Prep time: 10 minutes | Cook time: 25 minutes
Serves: 2-3
On the menu at: Food House Mostar — including a vegan version without eggs
Our shakshuka recipe takes a dish known across the Mediterranean and Middle East and roots it firmly in Mostar. We make ours with Herzegovinian peppers — the long, sweet ones that grow in the Neretva valley — cooked down with tomatoes, onion, garlic, and a hit of paprika until the sauce is thick and deeply red. Then we crack eggs into the pan, cover it, and let them bake until the whites set and the yolks stay runny. We serve it at Food House straight from the pan with warm somun bread for scooping. It is one of the most popular dishes on our menu, and one of the easiest to recreate at home.
Shakshuka Recipe: The Mostar Way
This is how we make it at Food House. The Herzegovinian twist is the peppers — we use a mix of sweet and mildly spicy local varieties that give the sauce a more complex flavour than tomatoes alone. If you cannot source Herzegovinian peppers, any mix of sweet red peppers and a mild chilli will get you close.
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 Herzegovinian sweet peppers (or 1 red bell pepper + 1 mild chilli), diced
- 3 cloves garlic, sliced
- 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika (optional)
- Pinch of chilli flakes (adjust to your heat preference)
- 400g canned whole tomatoes (or 500g ripe fresh tomatoes, chopped)
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- Salt and black pepper to taste
- 4-6 eggs
- Fresh parsley or coriander, chopped
- Somun bread or crusty bread for serving
Instructions
- Cook the base. Heat olive oil in a wide, oven-safe skillet over medium heat. Add the diced onion and cook for 5 minutes until softened. Add the diced peppers and cook for another 3-4 minutes until they start to soften.
- Add the spices. Add the garlic, sweet paprika, cumin, smoked paprika, and chilli flakes. Stir for 1 minute until fragrant — do not let the garlic burn.
- Build the sauce. Add the tomatoes (crush them with a spoon if using whole canned) and tomato paste. Season with salt and pepper. Simmer for 10-12 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens and the oil starts to separate around the edges. The sauce should be thick enough that a spoon drawn through it leaves a trail.
- Add the eggs. Make small wells in the sauce with the back of a spoon. Crack an egg into each well. Season the eggs lightly with salt and pepper. Cover the pan with a lid.
- Cook the eggs. Cook on medium-low heat for 5-7 minutes until the egg whites are fully set but the yolks are still runny. Check at 5 minutes — the residual heat will continue cooking the eggs after you remove the lid.
- Finish and serve. Remove from heat. Scatter fresh parsley over the top. Serve immediately, straight from the pan, with warm somun bread on the side.
Our Vegan Version
At Food House, we also serve shakshuka without eggs for our vegan guests. The pepper and tomato sauce is the same — it is flavourful enough to stand on its own. We add chickpeas for protein and top it with a drizzle of good olive oil and fresh herbs. The somun bread still comes on the side. If you are making this at home, add a drained can of chickpeas when you add the tomatoes and let them simmer together. It is a different dish but equally satisfying.
Why Shakshuka Works in Mostar
Shakshuka is claimed by many cuisines — Israeli, Tunisian, Yemeni, Turkish. In Mostar, it fits naturally because the ingredients are already part of our kitchen. Herzegovinian peppers, tomatoes from the Neretva valley, local olive oil, and somun bread from the neighbourhood bakery. We did not adopt shakshuka — it arrived and found that everything it needed was already here.
The Ottoman influence on Bosnian cooking means that egg-and-vegetable dishes have been part of our tradition for centuries. Sahan (eggs cooked with vegetables in a copper pan) is a related Bosnian dish. Shakshuka is a natural extension of that same cooking philosophy: vegetables, eggs, bread, eat with your hands.
Herzegovinian Peppers
The peppers we use deserve their own mention. Herzegovina has a microclimate — hot summers, mild winters, plenty of sun, and the Neretva river providing water. This produces peppers with thinner skins, more sweetness, and a more concentrated flavour than what you typically find in supermarkets. The long, pointed sweet peppers (babure) are used for roasting and cooking. The smaller, mildly spicy ones add heat without overwhelming.
If you are cooking outside Herzegovina, look for Italian sweet peppers (friggitelli) or Turkish sivri biber as substitutes. Regular bell peppers work too — just add a mild chilli to compensate for their milder flavour.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q: Is shakshuka a breakfast or dinner dish?
A: Both. In Mostar, we serve it all day. Traditionally in North Africa and the Middle East it leans toward breakfast. At Food House, it is popular at lunch and dinner. There are no rules — eat it when you want it.
Q: How do I keep the yolks runny?
A: Cover the pan and cook on medium-low heat. Start checking at 5 minutes. The whites should be opaque and set, the yolks still wobbling when you gently shake the pan. Remove from heat immediately — residual heat keeps cooking them.
Q: Can I add cheese to shakshuka?
A: Some people crumble feta over the top before serving. It works well — the saltiness of the cheese complements the sweet tomato sauce. We keep ours cheese-free at Food House, but at home, try it both ways.
Q: What bread goes with shakshuka?
A: Somun (Bosnian flatbread) is our choice — it is soft, slightly chewy, and perfect for scooping. Pita bread, crusty sourdough, or any bread that can handle a thick sauce will work. The bread is not optional — you need it to get every last bit of sauce.
Q: Can I make shakshuka spicy?
A: Absolutely. Add more chilli flakes, a sliced fresh chilli, or a spoonful of harissa paste to the sauce. Our version at Food House is medium-spiced — enough warmth to notice, not enough to overpower the peppers and tomatoes.
Shakshuka is the kind of dish that takes 25 minutes and makes you feel like a real cook. The pan comes to the table still sizzling, the yolks break when you cut into them, and the bread mops up the sauce. Come try our version at Food House Mostar, Rade Bitange 12, next to the Hamam Museum — we will show you why the Mostar version might be the best one you have tasted.
