Mezze Feast Recipe

Recipe by: Yotam Ottolenghi

Ingredients

Ms’amen:
150g plain flour
100g 00 flour
50g fine semolina, plus more for dusting
½ tsp salt
55ml vegetable oil, plus extra for rolling
20g unsalted butter

Red Capsicum and Walnut Paste:
3 red capsicums, charred, peeled and de-seeded
1 mild red chilli, charred, peeled and de-seeded
4 whole garlic cloves, roasted and peeled
1 tbsp picked thyme leaves
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp sweet smoked paprika
½ tsp tomato paste
2 tsp balsamic vinegar
60g walnut halves, roughly chopped

Butterbean Hummus:
100ml extra virgin olive oil
1 garlic clove, skin on, lightly crushed
3 sprigs thyme
470g butterbeans, rinsed and drained

½ tsp saltLamb Kofta:
1 ½ tsp toasted cumin seeds
1 ½ tsp toasted fennel seeds
500g minced lamb
½ tsp ground allspice
15g parsley, finely chopped
½ medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 ½ garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
salt and black pepper, to season
1 tbsp torn coriander leaves

Pomegranate Jam:
250g pomegranate seeds
80g caster sugar
1 ½ tbsp lemon juice
¼ tsp dried Aleppo chilli flakes
1 tbsp pomegranate molasses

Tahini Sauce:
120g tahini paste
salt, to season

Spicy Yoghurt:
1 green chilli, roughly chopped
¼ tsp ground cardamom
pinch ground cloves
¾ tsp caster sugar
20g coriander leaves, roughly chopped
20g parsley leaves, roughly chopped
45g preserved lemon (skin and flesh), roughly chopped
3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil, plus extra to serve
300g Greek yoghurt

Coated Olives:
80g panko breadcrumbs, finely ground
50g plain flour
3 eggs, beaten
8 large, pitted green olives

Broad Bean Spread:
250g podded broad beans
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
salt and black pepper

Roasted Garlic Ricotta:
5 cloves roasted garlic, peeled
240g ricotta
3 tbsp sour cream
1 tbsp shredded mint leaves, to garnish
zest of ½ a lemon
extra virgin olive oil, to finish

Method

1.Preheat the oven to 200C. Fill deep fryer with sunflower oil and set to 180C.

2. For the Ms’amen, combine both flours and the semolina in a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment. Add 200ml of water, ½ teaspoon of salt and 1 teaspoon of the oil. Turn stand mixer on to low speed and mix until the dough comes together, about 1 minute. Turn mixer onto medium speed and continue to beat until the dough is smooth, elastic and leaves the sides of the bowl, about 3 minutes.

3. Brush a clean work surface and a baking tray with a little vegetable oil. Once ready, transfer the dough to the oiled work surface. Grease hands with a little more vegetable oil and form the dough into a log shape. Take two 85g portions of the dough and roll each portion into a ball. Lay dough balls onto the pre-oiled baking tray and roll around slightly to cover the balls in oil. Cover tray of dough with cling film and set aside to rest for 20 minutes.

4. Once dough has rested, oil a clean work surface again. Taking one piece of dough at a time, press it into the palm of your hand to flatten then use a rolling pin to roll dough out to roughly 15cm-square.
Gently fold the bottom third of the square into the middle of the square then fold the top third into the middle, overlapping the first two layers, to create a rectangle. Fold the shorter ends of the rectangle into the middle of the rectangle so that they overlap each other to create a square. Roll square out to approximately 15cm x 15cm. Repeat with second dough ball. Dust both sides of each pastry with a little semolina.

5. Place 50ml of the vegetable oil and the butter into a small saucepan over medium-high heat and allow to melt completely. Once melted, remove saucepan from heat and set aside nearby the stovetop to use for frying.

6. Place 1 tablespoon of the melted butter and oil mixture in a large non-stick sauté pan and heat over medium-high heat. Add one pastry and fry, turning halfway, until golden-brown, crisp and cooked through, about 3-4 minutes. Remove from pan and drain on paper towel. Repeat with the remaining pastry. Once cooked, season the bread with salt flakes, cut into quarters and transfer to the serving plate.

7. Meanwhile, for the Red Capsicum and Walnut Paste, place capsicums, chilli, garlic, thyme leaves, ½ a teaspoon of salt, paprika, tomato paste, vinegar and half of the walnuts into the canister of a stick blender and pulse with stick blender to a coarse salsa consistency. Set aside until needed.

8. Place a griddle pan into the oven preheated to 200C to heat up, for later use to fry kofta.

9. For the Butterbean Hummus, heat the oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add crushed garlic and thyme sprigs and fry until the garlic starts to caramelise, about 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat, discard the garlic and reserve 2 teaspoons of the cooking oil and thyme sprigs. Set the pan aside, reserving remaining oil until needed.

10. Place the butterbeans, 2 tablespoons of water and ½ a teaspoon of salt into the canister of a stick blender. Add the reserved oil in the frypan and blitz until the mixture is smooth, adding a little more water to loosen if needed.

11. To plate the Butterbean Hummus with Red Capsicum and Walnut Paste, spoon some of the Butterbean Hummus out onto the serving plate, using the back of a spoon to spread the mixture and create a thick natural rim around the edge. Spoon some of the Red Capsicum and Walnut Paste into the centre of the hummus and use the back of a spoon to spread out to approximately 1cm in from the edge of the Hummus. Scatter the remaining walnuts and reserved thyme sprigs over the top. Finish by drizzling the reserved cooking oil over the top. Set aside until ready to serve.

12. For the Lamb Kofta, place toasted cumin and fennel into a mortar and pestle and grind to a fine powder.

13. Carefully remove preheated griddle pan from the oven and place on the stovetop over high heat.

14. Place lamb, allspice, and toasted ground spices into a large bowl. Add parsley, onion, garlic, 3/4 teaspoon of salt and a pinch of black pepper and use hands to mix well until fully incorporated.
Weigh out 8 x 35g portions of the mince mixture and roll into kofta shape, about 3cm x 5cm.

15. Add kofta to the preheated griddle pan and fry, turning until well charred on all sides, about 1-2 minutes. Transfer the griddle tray of koftas into the oven preheated to 200C until just cooked through, about 4 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside until needed.

16. For the Pomegranate Jam, combine all ingredients, along with a pinch of salt, into a medium saucepan over medium heat and bring to a simmer. Continue to simmer until the mixture is slightly reduced, about 8-10 minutes. Set aside until needed.


17. Meanwhile, for the Tahini Sauce, stir tahini in its bowl to reincorporate all of the oil. Measure out tahini into a clean bowl and add 100ml of water and ¼ teaspoon of salt. Whisk until mixture becomes thickened, yet pourable. Adjust mixture to reach the right consistency with extra water or tahini. Set aside until needed.

18. To plate the Lamb Kofta, Pomegranate Jam and Tahini Sauce, spoon some of the Tahini Sauce onto the serving plate and use the back of the spoon to spread the mixture in the centre of the plate. Arrange the Lamb Kofta on the Tahini Sauce. Spoon a little of the Pomegranate Jam onto each kofta. Finish with a sprinkle of torn coriander leaves. Set aside until ready to serve.

19. For the Spicy Yoghurt, place all ingredients except for the yoghurt into a stick blender canister and blitz to a rough paste. Set aside until needed.

20. For the Coated Olives, place ground panko crumbs into a small bowl, flour into another small bowl and eggs into a third small bowl. Drain off the olives and pat dry with paper towel.

21. Place the olives into the bowl of flour and roll around to coat evenly. Place the dusted olives into the egg, then the panko, then into the egg again and finally into the panko, ensuring olives are evenly coated at each step.

22. Line a small bowl with paper towel. Add coated olives to the deep fryer basket and gently submerge into the pre-heated deep fryer oil. Fry, turning occasionally, until dark golden on all sides, about 5 minutes. Remove olives from the oil and place into the pre-lined bowl to drain.

23. To plate the Spicy Yoghurt and Coated Olives, spoon the yoghurt onto the serving plate and use the back of a spoon to spread the mixture and create a thick natural rim around the edge. Spoon some of the reserved green paste onto the yoghurt and spread out slightly. Pile the olives onto the Spicy Yoghurt, finish with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and set aside until ready to serve.

24. For the Broad Bean Spread, place podded broad beans into a bowl and lightly crush beans with a fork. Add oil, ½ teaspoon of salt and a pinch of black pepper and mix until well combined. Set aside until needed.

25. For the Roasted Garlic Ricotta, place roasted garlic, ricotta and sour cream into a stick blender canister and pulse until just combined and smooth.

26. To plate the Broad Bean Spread and Roasted Garlic Ricotta, spread the Roasted Garlic Ricotta onto the base of the serving plate and use the back of a spoon to spread the mixture and create a thick natural rim around the edge. Spoon the broad bean mixture on top, lightly spreading it out to cover most of the ricotta. Sprinkle over the shredded mint and grated lemon zest and finish with a drizzle of the olive oil.