Feasts From the Middle East

OLIVES & PICKLES

Green olives mixed with Kalamata olives, dressed in oil.

Whole green chillies, pickled turnips with beetroot and strips of Lebanese gherkins.

FALAFEL

Serve plain and simple or try the recipe on see here (#litres_trial_promo).

A BOWL OF CRISP VEGETABLES

Slice baby cucumbers lengthways and sprinkle with a little salt

Carrots, squeezed with a little lemon juice and salt

Cherry tomatoes, halved, or large tomatoes, cut into wedges and opened like a flower, sprinkled with salt and sumac, and drizzled with a little olive oil

Radishes

Small bunch of mint, to garnish

BREAD

Choose Arabic Bread (see here (#u3ecde2d5-45bd-5f3d-b7bc-ba6ce620b7e4)), Sesame Seed Bread (see here (#u52903ddd-8123-54b9-b688-ebfa50a8348b)), Village Bread, or Man’ousha – either Spiced Tomato (see here (#u46d397cf-f2bd-5c9c-aa72-88ec732078e0)) or Feta & Spinach (see here (#u96458ea0-4de9-571a-bb71-b9c2ee93338f)).

EGGS

Hard-boiled eggs, halved, some sprinkled with za’atar and sumac, are the easiest to serve to a crowd. But if you fancy whipping up some scrambled eggs, serve them with feta and za’atar. If you’re making fried eggs, do as I do and serve them out of the pan with a sprinkle of sumac on top.

CHEESE

Grill slices of halloumi and serve with figs in rose syrup or roasted tomatoes (see here (#litres_trial_promo)) or serve one or two of the Feta 4 Ways ideas on see here (#u44b4df39-a24f-5479-9757-ae8243479fa3).

And, finally, just to please some of my family, who love croissants for breakfast, I also like to serve a plate of the mini ones with my own Middle Eastern twist. I take half of them and split them, then drizzle over a little extra-virgin olive oil and za’atar. The other half I split and fill with salty feta and slices of juicy ripe tomatoes.

Originally from Egypt and made from beans in a simple vegetable sauce, this used to be known as the poor man’s breakfast, but how times have changed. It’s now seen as one of the healthiest ways to start the day and, in fact, I eat it particularly when I’m on a strict diet, training for a marathon.

It has to be made with fava beans, known as broad beans here, which have been dried then rehydrated. The onion and tomato sauce comes with a kick of garlic and spice, then is simmered with the beans until it forms a stew. If you stir the mixture a lot, the beans cook down and become very soft. I like it both ways – when the beans stay whole and have more texture or when they are more stewed, especially when served with a fried egg on top. Then I’ll always add a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil before tucking in.

BROAD BEANS IN A TOMATO SAUCE (#ulink_01ca391e-ba64-5d07-8f07-64e09b58099c)

FUL MEDAMES

SERVES 4–6

1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra to drizzle

½ onion, chopped

2 garlic cloves, chopped

1 tsp cumin

2 large tomatoes, chopped, plus extra to garnish

½ tsp salt

400g tin ful medames (fava beans), drained

100–150ml water

small handful of coriander, chopped

1 spring onion, thinly sliced

bread, to serve

Heat the oil in a medium saucepan and stir in the onion. Sauté over a low-to-medium heat for 8–10 minutes until it has softened and turned golden.

Stir in the garlic and cumin, and cook for 1–2 minutes until you can smell the aroma as they cook in the heat of the pan.

Add the tomatoes, salt and beans with the water, then stir everything again. Simmer for a further 10 minutes, over a low-to-medium heat, until everything has cooked down and thickened, and the mixture looks like a stew.

Stir in most of the coriander and cook for a minute or two more to allow the herb to cook into the sauce. Check the seasoning. Spoon into a bowl and scatter over the remaining coriander, some chopped fresh tomatoes, the spring onions and a drizzle of olive oil over the top. Serve with bread.

This is from my mum’s very good Syrian friend, Soha (who we called Um Hassan), who came to our home town, Tizi Ouzou, to teach Arabic. She loved Algerian food, so my mum would invite her and her husband to eat with us. In return she also cooked for us, and this was one of her star dishes. Of course I ensured that my mum learnt how to make it, too. Now, our Syrian chef, Wassim, makes it in just the same way. I know some of you won’t perhaps have tried lamb for breakfast, but it really works. Small pieces of lamb are seasoned with some of our favourite Middle Eastern spices, then cooked with courgettes and eggs. It’s worth looking out for baby courgettes to use here, rather than their full-blown cousins, as they stay lovely and tender to the end.

SCRAMBLED EGGS WITH LAMB & COURGETTES (#ulink_5933a566-4cac-5b30-b8ab-fe06a06a601a)

MOUFARAKET KOUSSA

SERVES 4–6

100ml vegetable oil or 100g ghee

1 onion, chopped

3 garlic cloves, sliced

150–200g lean lamb, chopped into very small pieces

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp Lebanese seven-spice mix

1 tsp allspice

1kg baby courgettes, chopped