I’m really loving Anissa Helou’s fantastic mezze recipes, as well as the stories on her wonderful blog. She currently has a lovely tale to tell about chocolates made from camel milk. Here’s two more mezze recipes from her excellent book Modern Mezze; check out more of her books here.
Mezze are so versatile: they make great snacks, dinners, and lunches, whether just for yourself or a larger party.
Aubergine salad
Serves 4-6
Ingredients
2 medium aubergines
3 garlic cloves, peeled
5 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2x400g cans of tomatoes, drained
100g coriander sprigs, most of stalk removed, finely chopped
½ tsp ground cumin
juice of ½ lemon, or to taste
½ tsp dried chilli flakes
½ tsp finely ground black pepper
sea salt
¼ tsp paprika
Anissa Helou
Instructions
Add the aubergines to the tomato sauce together with the lemon juice, chilli flakes, pepper and salt to taste. Mix well and simmer over a low heat for another 15 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the paprika, then taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Serve at room temperature.
Herb and toasted pitta salad
Serves 6
Ingredients
1 medium pitta bread
3 tbsp sumac (or fresh lemon juice)
6 tbs extra virgin olive oil
400g little gem lettuce
300g cucumbers (preferably small Middle Eastern cucumbers)
100g spring onions, trimmed
300g firm red tomatoes
200g flat-leaf parsley, most of the stalk removed, coarsely chopped
100g mint, leaves only, coarsely chopped
100g purslane, leaves only
sea salt
Instructions
Open up the pitta bread at the seams, so you have two discs. Toast until golden brown on both sides, then break into bite-size pieces and place in a bowl. Sprinkle the sumac all over the toasted pitta pieces, then add the olive oil and toss well.
Remove any damaged outer leaves from the lettuce, then cut across into 1cm strips. If using a regular cucumber, peel, quarter lengthways and deseed; if using small cucumbers, simply halve lengthways. Cut the cucumbers across into slices. Thinly slice the spring onions. Chop the tomatoes into bite-sized pieces. Put these ingredients into a large salad bowl.
Add the herbs to the salad and season with salt to taste. Add the seasoned bread and toss well. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Serve immediately.
I’m really loving Anissa Helou’s fantastic mezze recipes, as well as the stories on her wonderful blog. She currently has a lovely tale to tell about chocolates made from camel milk. Here’s two more mezze recipes from her excellent book Modern Mezze; check out more of her books here.