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
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
125ml water
4 large eggs, beaten
2 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
TO SERVE
pinch of paprika
extra-virgin olive oil, to drizzle
Heat the oil or ghee in a large saucepan and sauté the onion and garlic for about 5 minutes until starting to soften.
Stir the lamb into the onion mixture and cook for about 1 minute, until starting to colour a little. Stir in the spices and cook for about 1 minute, then add the chopped courgette and the water, and mix everything together.
Cook, uncovered, over a medium heat for about 10 minutes, until the water has all been absorbed into the courgettes and they are tender.
Use a spoon to make a large hole in the middle of the courgettes. Add the eggs and the seasoning, and mix everything together.
Cover the pan with a lid and leave on the heat for about 1 minute until the eggs are cooked. Sprinkle with paprika and serve with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil.
Here’s a really great wrap that’s quick to make and delicious. It’s great for breakfast or brunch and has the added bonus that you can wrap it up and take it anywhere. Creamy labneh is spread over a flatbread, then topped with caramelised bananas. If you’re going to take it with you, I’d skip that stage and just top it with some fresh fruit – my favourites are figs and strawberries or, of course, fresh banana. But the one ingredient I always make sure to add to the honey is plenty of orange blossom water or rose water, then I sprinkle the wrap with toasted sesame seeds at the end.
LABNEH & CARAMELISED BANANA WRAP
SERVES 6
50g butter
3 tbsp caster sugar
4 large bananas, sliced
6 flatbreads
200g labneh
6 tbsp runny honey, plus extra to drizzle
1–2 tbsp orange blossom water or rose water
plenty of toasted sesame seeds, to sprinkle
Heat a large frying pan over a medium heat and put the butter in the pan to melt. As soon as it has completely melted and stopped foaming, sprinkle over the caster sugar. Carefully lay the pieces of sliced banana over the base of the pan and cook until golden on each side, turning them after 1–2 minutes.
Lay the flatbreads on a board. Spread each one with an equal amount of labneh, leaving about 1cm border from the edge. Top with the caramelised slices of banana. Keep a few to one side (two or three per wrap is plenty) to garnish at the end.
Mix the honey with orange blossom water, then drizzle over each flatbread. Sprinkle over the sesame seeds, roll up and pop a couple of slices of banana on top of each to serve. I like it with an extra drizzle of honey and more sesame seeds over the top.
I now realise how lucky I was as a little boy, being able to pick fruit straight from the tree. Quinces were one of the many fruits – along with pomegranates and figs – that I loved to gather then eat as soon as I got home. Although quinces are often cooked, they can be eaten raw in the Mediterranean and Middle East. We also cook them in a tagine, or roast halves until golden and tender, or poach them, as in this recipe. Make sure you buy dried figs, apricots and prunes, as opposed to the ready-to-eat fruit, as they’ll be too soft once they’ve been cooked in the syrup. This keeps well in the fridge for up to a week if you don’t eat it all at once.
LABNEH WITH CARAMELISED POACHED QUINCES AND SPICED DRIED FRUIT
LABNEH BIL SAFARJAL MESHWY
SERVES 6
3 medium quinces
½ lemon
6