I love tartines, French open sandwiches, because I can see exactly what the filling is or, in this case, the topping. I’ve made this recipe a big, sharing crowd-pleasing affair, with cheese, honey, candied figs, nuts and fruit. For a slightly more decadent topping, swap the pomegranate seeds for dried rose petals and add just a drop of rose water to the syrup or honey before drizzling. If you prefer the feta uncooked to enjoy more of the salty flavour, sprinkle it on with the seeds and rose water just before eating. If you can’t get hold of figs in syrup, poach dried figs in a little water to soften, then keep them in a jar with honey.
SERVES 6
200g block of feta
1 large flatbread
2–3 tbsp fig syrup, or use honey if using dried figs
9 whole figs in syrup – or use dried figs – chopped into chunks
20g slivered or roughly chopped pistachio nuts
large handful of pomegranate seeds
1 tsp sesame seeds
Preheat the oven to 220°C/200°C fan/gas mark 7 and put a baking sheet in the oven to warm.
Put the feta into a bowl and mash it with a fork until it crumbles into small pieces.
Put the flatbread on a board and drizzle half the syrup over the top. Spoon the feta over the bread, covering it evenly. Then arrange the figs and pistachios over the top, again so they’re evenly spaced on the bread.
Slide the flatbread on to the preheated baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 5 minutes – just long enough to warm the bread through and allow the feta to become very slightly golden. The bread shouldn’t be too crisp.
Drizzle the remaining syrup over the top, followed by the pomegranate and sesame seeds. Cut into wedges and serve.
If you’re as greedy as me and like to pick at lots of bits, you’ll love this. It’s a true feast in every sense of the word and features lots of different dishes laid out in one big spread. This breakfast varies from family to family, village to village. For starters, you’ll always find a selection of homemade cheese, eggs and flatbreads with different toppings. There’ll also be jars of homemade jams such as quince, fig or rose petal. Olives and pickles, tomatoes, bunches of mint, baby cucumbers and radishes will be arranged in separate bowls. There’ll always be space for labneh, of course – whether the topping is sweet or savoury depends on preference. And finally there’ll be fresh fruit, whatever’s in season. Here’s a round-up of some of my favourites (photos on see here).
FOTOOR ARABY
LABNEH
Serve it plain or dressed as in the recipe on see here. Or top it with something sweet – rose petal or quince jam are two of my favourites – or choose whatever you have to hand. It’s also delicious with poached quinces and dried fruits (see here).
Labneh balls: serve as many different flavours as you like. There are plain labneh balls (dressed in a little olive oil), za’atar labneh balls, sumac labneh balls, labneh balls with flaked chilli, dried-mint labneh balls and labneh balls with nigella seeds.
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.
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), Sesame Seed Bread (see here), Village Bread, or Man’ousha – either Spiced Tomato (see here) or Feta & Spinach (see here).
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) or serve one or two of the Feta 4 Ways ideas on see here.
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.