A great comforting Lebanese classic: crispy pita bread, hot chickpeas, garlic and tahini yogurt, topped with buttery toasted pine nuts. The hot-cold, creamy-crunchy, tart-nutty contrasts make all the charm of the dish.
Ingredients
- 500 g jarred cooked chickpeas
- 2 pieces plain pita bread
- 500 g plain Greek yogurt
- 2 tbsp tahini
- 1 piece lemon
- 2 cloves garlic
- 40 g unsalted butter
- 40 g pine nuts
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- to taste fine salt
- 0.25 bunches fresh flat-leaf parsley
- 1 tsp sumac
- 250 ml water
Method
- Drain and rinse the chickpeas, then place them in a saucepan with water, cumin and a pinch of salt; heat gently until they are very hot and lightly flavored.
- Tear the pita bread into irregular pieces, coat them with olive oil, then toast them in the oven or in a skillet until crispy and nice and golden.
- Mash the garlic with salt to a damp, fragrant paste; mix with the yogurt, tahini and lemon juice to form a smooth, fresh and slightly tart sauce.
- Taste the yogurt sauce and adjust with a little salt or lemon; it should be bright, creamy and supple enough to coat the back of a spoon.
- Melt the butter over medium heat, add the pine nuts and stir until they become golden and smell nutty; remove from the heat as soon as the color turns amber.
- Distribute the crispy pita bread in a large deep dish or bowls, then drizzle with a little of the hot chickpea juice to soften it without fully soaking it.
- Add the hot chickpeas over the bread, immediately cover with yogurt sauce to create the characteristic hot-cold contrast.
- Pour the piping-hot pine nut butter on top, then finish with chopped parsley and sumac; serve immediately, while the bread still alternates between tender and crispy.
Nutrition
Per serving
- Energy
- 545.6 kcal
- Protein
- 20.51 g
- Carbohydrate
- 50.83 g
- Fat
- 29.19 g
- Fibre
- 12.14 g
- Calcium
- 144.24 mg
- Iron
- 8.33 mg
- Magnesium
- 184.88 mg
