Sabrina Ghayour’s Platter of Dreams (V) from Flavour
“This collection of wonderful things that Persians, Arabs and Turks like to graze on really is everything I could hope to have served to me for a casual lunch with friends. All the elements are merely suggestions, but they certainly go well together and you can increase or decrease the offering and add your own twists very easily, exactly as you please. Get creative – and enjoy!” Sabrina Ghayour, author of Flavour
3 medium eggs
150g baby plum tomatoes, halved
1/2 large cucumber, diced
1/2 red onion, diced
Olive oil
1 teaspoon dried wild oregano, plus extra for sprinkling
1 teaspoon pul biber chilli flakes, plus extra for sprinkling
400g can chickpeas, drained
2 teaspoons za’atar, plus extra to serve
Juice of 1/2 lemon
1/2 packet (about 15g) of fresh coriander, finely chopped
250g thick Greek yogurt
200g feta cheese, broken into 10–12 large chunks
Handful of pitted Kalamata olives
Handful of pitted green olives
Maldon sea salt flakes and freshly ground black pepper
Bread, to serve (optional)
Serve with Mama Ghanoush (see p.158 of Flavour)
Cook the eggs in a small saucepan of boiling water for 7 minutes or so, then drain and cool under cold running water. Once cooled, shell, halve and set aside.
Put the tomatoes, cucumber and onion into a mixing bowl, add some salt and pepper, a light drizzle of olive oil, the oregano and pul biber and mix together.
In another bowl, mix the chickpeas with the za’atar, lemon juice, a light drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper and the coriander.
Choose the largest platter you can find. Spoon the yogurt into a small bowl or into a corner of the platter.
Arrange the tomato mixture, chickpeas, egg halves, feta and olives on the platter, drizzle the yogurt and feta with a little extra olive oil and sprinkle some extra oregano and pul biber wherever you like. In another small bowl, add extra za’atar mixed with a little olive oil for drizzling, and serve with bread, if desired.