FATTOUSH DIP with pitta chips

From Izy Hossack’s The Savvy Cook comes this recipe, perfect for vegetarians, vegans and carnivores alike!

I prefer this purple dip made with kidney beans to its more common chickpea-based cousin hummus as it’s easier to make it smooth, light and creamy. (Seriously, I’m never going to hand peel a bowl of cooked chickpeas just to get smooth hummus.) I swirl the resulting pastel purée on to a platter and top it with a mixture of herbs, tomatoes, leaves and pomegranate seeds with a cinnamon-lemon dressing inspired by the Middle Eastern salad called ‘fattoush’. Serve with homemade pitta chips (see below) and you have one impressive and beautiful sharing plate of food.

Serves 3–4

DIP
240g (1 can, drained weight) cooked
kidney beans, drained (except for
3 tablespoons water from kidney bean
can) and rinsed
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped or crushed
salt
juice of ½ lemon
SALAD
handful of cherry tomatoes,
halved or quartered
2 radishes, thinly sliced
handful of rocket or pea shoots
handful of fresh coriander, roughly
chopped (leaves and stalks)
handful of mint leaves, roughly chopped
1 spring onion, finely sliced
handful of pomegranate seeds (optional)
DRESSING
2 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
juice of ½ lemon
pinch of salt
TO SERVE
1 batch of pitta chips (see below)

Serves 2–4
2 wholemeal pitta breads

HERBS & SALT FLAVOUR MIX
2 teaspoons mixed dried herbs
pinch of salt (sea salt flakes are
especially good here)

SWEET & SMOKY FLAVOUR MIX
½ teaspoon sweet smoked paprika
½ teaspoon ground coriander seeds
pinch of granulated sugar
pinch of salt

1 Preheat the oven to 200°C fan, 220°C, Gas Mark 7.
2 For pitta breads, cut around the edge of each pitta bread with a pair of
scissors and separate them each into 2 thin halves. Cut each half into
roughly 10 even pieces and toss with the oil on a baking tray, then lay
them out in a single layer on the tray.
3 Sprinkle on your choice of flavour mix and bake in the oven for 5–10
minutes, keeping a close watch, until they are just starting to go golden.
Remove from the oven and leave to cool and crisp up.
5 Store in an airtight container for up to 5 days. If they soften, just place them
on a baking tray and warm in an oven preheated to 180°C fan, 200°C, Gas
Mark 6 for 2–3 minutes.

Izy Hossack’s The Savvy Cook is available here

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