Tunisian Food Mains
Ojja: Tunisian Eggs with Merguez, Tomato and Harissa Recipe
Merguez browned in olive oil, then a spicy sauce of tomato, green pepper, harissa and caraway, with eggs poached on top. Eaten from the pan with bread.
Serves
4
Calories
340 kcal
Cuisine
Tunisian
On this page: What is it · History · What you need · Step by step · Serving & storage · Recipe card
Ojja is a Tunisian pan of eggs cooked in a spicy sauce of tomato, green pepper, garlic and harissa. The most popular version adds merguez, the thin, spiced lamb or beef sausage, and that is the one we make here.
It is fast, cheap and made for sharing: the pan goes in the middle of the table and everyone tears off bread and dips in. We ate it often in small cafés during our winter in Tunisia, and it has been a weeknight regular ever since.
From start to finish it takes about 35 minutes.
What Is Ojja?
Ojja (عجة) is a dish of eggs cooked in a sauce of tomatoes, peppers, garlic, harissa and spices, usually caraway and coriander. It is often compared to shakshuka, and the two are related, but ojja is typically spicier and more garlicky, with caraway as the defining spice.
Merguez is the classic addition. Other versions use shrimp, brains, or no meat at all.
The eggs can be left whole and poached in the sauce, as here, or stirred in loosely so they scramble into it. Both are traditional.
A Little History
Eggs cooked in tomato and pepper sauce are found right across North Africa and the Middle East. Tomatoes and peppers came to the region from the Americas, so dishes like ojja in their current form date from the last few centuries.
In Tunisia, ojja became an everyday café and home dish: quick, filling and built on harissa, the chilli paste that seasons almost everything in Tunisian cooking.
Today you will find ojja merguez on the menu of small restaurants from Tunis to Djerba, usually served bubbling in the pan it was cooked in.
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At a glance
Serves
4
Calories
340 kcal
Protein
19 g
Course
Main, Lunch
Why it works
01 One pan, about 35 minutes
02 Merguez fat seasons the sauce
03 Easy to make milder or hotter
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What You Need
Exact amounts are in the recipe card
For the Ojja
- merguez sausages, about 250 g
- olive oil
- garlic cloves, sliced
- tomato paste
- harissa, to taste
- ground caraway
- ground coriander
- sweet paprika
- long green peppers, sliced
- ripe tomatoes, chopped, or 1 tin
- water
- fine sea salt
- eggs
To Serve
- black pepper
- fresh parsley, chopped
- baguette, or other crusty bread
Step-by-Step Instructions
Brown the sausages, build the sauce in the same pan, then poach the eggs on top. Keep the heat moderate so the sauce reduces without burning.
1. Brown the merguez
Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Brown the merguez for 5 to 6 minutes, turning, then lift them out and cut into thick slices. Leave the fat in the pan.
2. Cook the garlic, harissa and spices
Lower the heat. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds, then stir in the tomato paste, harissa, caraway, coriander and paprika and cook for 1 minute.
Tip: If your merguez is very spicy, start with 1 teaspoon of harissa. You can always stir in more at the end.
3. Add the peppers and tomatoes
Add the green peppers, tomatoes, water and salt. Return the merguez to the pan, cover and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes, crushing the tomatoes with the spoon, until the peppers are soft and the sauce is thick.
4. Crack in the eggs
Make 4 small wells in the sauce and crack an egg into each. Season the eggs with a pinch of salt, cover and cook over low heat for 4 to 6 minutes, until the whites are set and the yolks are still runny.
Tip: For loosely scrambled ojja, the way many Tunisian cafés serve it, gently swirl the eggs through the sauce with a fork once the whites start to set.
5. Serve from the pan
Grind over black pepper, scatter with parsley and take the pan straight to the table with plenty of bread.
Serving & Storage
Serving
Serve ojja hot, straight from the pan, with baguette or homemade bread for dipping. A simple salad like slata tounsiya on the side makes it a full meal.
A drizzle of harissa thinned with olive oil over the top adds colour and extra heat.
Storing Leftovers
Ojja is best eaten as soon as the eggs are cooked. The sauce without eggs keeps well, so it is easy to make ahead.
| Sauce with merguez, no eggs | up to 3 days |
| Freezer, sauce only | up to 2 months |
| Cooked ojja with eggs | eat the same day |
Reheat the sauce in the pan until bubbling, then add fresh eggs and cook as in step 4.
Ojja with Merguez (Tunisian Eggs in Tomato Sauce)
Equipment
- Large frying pan with a lid (about 26 cm)
- Sharp knife
Ingredients
Ojja
- 4 merguez sausages about 250 g
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 3 garlic cloves sliced
- 1 tbsp tomato paste
- 1-2 tsp harissa to taste
- 1 tsp ground caraway
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
- 2 long green peppers sliced
- 400 g ripe tomatoes chopped, or 1 tin
- 100 ml water
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 4 eggs
To Serve
- black pepper
- fresh parsley chopped
- baguette or other crusty bread
Instructions
- Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Brown the merguez for 5 to 6 minutes, turning, then lift them out and cut into thick slices. Leave the fat in the pan.
- Lower the heat. Add the garlic and cook for 30 seconds, then stir in the tomato paste, harissa, caraway, coriander and paprika and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the green peppers, tomatoes, water and salt. Return the merguez to the pan, cover and simmer for 10 to 12 minutes, crushing the tomatoes with the spoon, until the peppers are soft and the sauce is thick.
- Make 4 small wells in the sauce and crack an egg into each. Season the eggs with a pinch of salt, cover and cook over low heat for 4 to 6 minutes, until the whites are set and the yolks are still runny.
- Grind over black pepper, scatter with parsley and take the pan straight to the table with plenty of bread.
Made this ojja?
Rate it with the stars in the recipe card and tell us in the comments whether you kept the yolks runny or scrambled them in.
Products we use
Our kitchen kit for this recipe
T-fal Stainless Steel Cookware Set (11-piece)
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Wooden Spoons
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Victorinox Fibrox Pro Chef’s Knife (20 cm)
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