Eggs poached in a spicy tomato and pepper sauce with merguez sausage — Tunisia's beloved ojja, a bold, harissa-driven breakfast or dinner dish.
Ojja is one of Tunisia's most beloved comfort dishes, eggs gently poached in a bubbling, richly spiced tomato and bell pepper sauce loaded with harissa and often studded with sliced merguez sausage, giving the dish a hearty, protein-forward character beyond a simple vegetable shakshuka. The sauce base is built slowly, cooking down peppers and tomatoes until they thicken into a deep, harissa-red sauce before the merguez goes in to render its spiced lamb fat directly into the mixture. The technique that matters most is building the sauce properly before adding eggs — cooking the peppers, tomatoes and harissa down until genuinely thick, since eggs added to a thin, watery sauce won't poach properly and the dish loses its characteristic rich texture. Merguez, a distinctly North African lamb sausage seasoned with harissa and fennel, contributes both spice and richness as it cooks alongside the vegetables. Served straight from the pan with plenty of crusty bread for scooping, ojja reflects Tunisia's love of bold, harissa-forward, communal-style eating, a dish enjoyed for breakfast, lunch or dinner depending on the household.
Serves 4
Heat olive oil in a wide pan over medium heat. Cook merguez slices 5-6 minutes until browned and rendered. Remove and set aside.
In the same pan, cook onion and peppers until softened, about 10 minutes, then add garlic and harissa, cooking 1 minute more.
Add crushed tomatoes, caraway and salt. Simmer 12-15 minutes until thickened.
The sauce needs to genuinely thicken before the eggs go in, or they won't poach properly and the dish stays watery.
Stir the cooked merguez back into the sauce.
Make wells in the sauce and crack an egg into each. Cover and cook 5-7 minutes until whites are set but yolks are still runny.
Scatter with parsley and serve straight from the pan with crusty bread.
Cook the sauce until it's genuinely thick before adding the eggs — a thin, watery sauce won't let the eggs poach properly.
Use real merguez if you can find it; its distinct harissa-and-fennel seasoning is central to the dish's character.
Cover the pan while the eggs cook so residual steam helps set the whites evenly on top.
Skip the merguez for a vegetarian version, relying on the peppers and harissa for flavor.
Add sliced potato, pre-cooked, for a heartier, more substantial dish.
Adjust the harissa to taste — some versions are noticeably spicier than others.
Refrigerate up to 2 days; the eggs won't hold up as well as the sauce base. Reheat the sauce gently and consider adding fresh eggs when reheating for the best texture.
Ojja is a staple of Tunisian home cooking, closely related to shakshuka but distinguished by its frequent inclusion of merguez sausage and a generally spicier, harissa-forward profile. It reflects Tunisia's broader culinary identity built around bold chili flavor and hearty, protein-rich dishes meant to be shared and scooped up with bread.
Merguez is a spicy North African lamb (or beef) sausage seasoned with harissa, garlic and fennel — if unavailable, a spicy Italian sausage can work as a substitute, though the flavor will be noticeably different.
Ojja typically includes merguez sausage and tends to be spicier and more harissa-forward than shakshuka, which is more commonly a vegetable-and-egg dish without meat, though both share the basic technique of poaching eggs in a spiced tomato sauce.
Yes — simply omit the sausage and rely on the peppers, onion and harissa for flavor; you may want to add a bit more olive oil to compensate for the richness the sausage would have contributed.
Per serving (340g / 12.0 oz) · 4 servings total
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