Easy
4 great dips
Hummus
I used to make hummus the old-fashioned slow way, using dried chickpeas, mainly because I'm not keen on the taste of canned chickpeas. However, you can now buy jars of excellent ready-cooked chickpeas, preserved in water and salt. Just be sure to rinse them well before using, to get rid of excess salt.
Serves 4
660g jar chickpeas (425g net weight)
100ml tahini paste
juice of 1½ lemons, or to taste
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
fine sea salt
For the garnish:
sweet paprika
extra virgin olive oil
1 tbs chopped flat-leaf parsley (optional)
Rinse the chickpeas well and drain thoroughly. Put them in a food processor with the tahini and lemon juice and process until very smooth. Transfer to a bowl.
Add the garlic and salt to taste, mixing well. If the hummus is too thick, add a little more lemon juice, or water if the flavour is already tart enough. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Spoon the hummus into a shallow serving dish. With the back of the spoon, spread it across the dish, raising it slightly at the edges and in the centre, so that you have a shallow groove in between. Sprinkle a little paprika over the raised edges and drizzle a little olive oil in the groove. Then sprinkle the parsley in the centre, if using. Serve with pitta bread.
Chilli and herb dip
This is the Israeli/Yemeni equivalent of Tunisian harissa. It is either used as a dip with bread, or as a spread in place of butter in sandwiches. You can use green chillies if you like, but make it a mixture of mild and hot ones, so that the dip is not too fiery.
Serves 4-6
250g fresh red chilli peppers, trimmed
5 garlic cloves, peeled
100g coriander sprigs, most of the stalk removed
100g flat-leaf parsley, most of the stalk removed
1 tsp ground cumin
pinch of ground cardamom
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
Halve and deseed the chillies, cut them into chunks and place in a food processor with the garlic. Whiz to chop coarsely. Add the herbs, spices, seasoning and olive oil and continue processing until you have a lightly textured paste. Use immediately, or transfer the dip to a jar with a tight-fitting lid. It will keep for up to a week in the fridge.
Tzatziki
This dip is found with slight variations in Turkey, Greece, Lebanon and Syria. The following recipe is Turkish in origin. For a Lebanese or Syrian version, replace the dill with 1-2 tbs powdered dried mint.
Serves 4
4 small Middle Eastern cucumbers or 1 regular cucumber
sea salt
450g Greek-style yoghurt
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
2-3 tbs chopped dill
paprika, for sprinkling
dill sprigs
If using small cucumbers, halve lengthways and slice thinly. If you have a standard cucumber, peel, halve, deseed and grate, then salt slightly. Let it sit for about 15 minutes, then squeeze to get rid of excess moisture.
Mix the cucumber, yoghurt, garlic and dill together in a bowl. Taste and adjust the salt if necessary. Spoon into a serving dish and drizzle with a little olive oil. Sprinkle with paprika and serve garnished with dill.
Grilled aubergine dip
There is some confusion over the Arabic name of this dip. In Syria it is mutabbal, while baba ghannuge is used to describe a salad. In any case it is exceptionally good, provided the aubergines are chargrilled, or better still, barbecued over an open fire so they take on a smoky flavour. It is also important to mash the aubergines by hand - if you use a food processor the dip won't have such a good texture.
Serves 4
6 large aubergines, about 250g each
4 tbs tahini
juice of a lemon, or to taste
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
sea salt
For the garnish:
extra virgin olive oil
1 tbs chopped mint or pomegranate seeds, ideally the sour type
Preheat the grill to high. Prick the aubergines in several places with a small knife (to stop them bursting under the grill) and place on a sturdy baking sheet or grill rack. Grill until the aubergines are very soft to the touch and the skin slightly charred, turning to expose all sides evenly to the heat (or cook on a barbecue). This may take up to 45 minutes.
Transfer the aubergines to a board, halve each one lengthways and scoop out the flesh with a spoon. Put the flesh into a colander and leave for at least half an hour to drain off excess liquid.
Tip the aubergine flesh into a wide bowl and mash, using a potato masher or the back of a fork. Don't crush it too much - you want the dip to have texture. Add the tahini and salt to taste and mix well, then stir in the lemon juice and crushed garlic. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.
Transfer the dip to a shallow serving bowl and spread it with the back of a spoon as with the hummus, so that you have a shallow groove in the dip.
Drizzle a little olive oil in the groove and sprinkle the mint or pomegranate seeds in the centre and at regular intervals around the edge.
Serve with pitta bread.
Easy grilled peppers
Grilled sweet peppers are a typical Turkish mezze. What makes this version interesting is the dressing of vinegar and garlic (but no oil). As it is the dominant flavouring, the choice of vinegar here is important. I use an aged Greek vinegar made from Corinthian grapes. It has a delicate fruity flavour. Otherwise I use champagne vinegar, which has a light colour and an even lighter taste.
Serves 4-6
8 red peppers
2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed
6 tbs good vinegar
1 tbs thyme leaves
sea salt
Preheat the grill (or barbecue). Grill the peppers, turning them to expose all sides, for about 30 minutes until the skin is charred and the peppers are soft. Lift onto a board and peel off the skin. Cut the peppers open, discard stems and seeds and slice the flesh into wide pieces. Place on a serving platter.
Mix the garlic, vinegar and thyme leaves, saving some for garnish. Add salt to taste and pour the dressing over the peppers. Leave to stand for about half an hour. Serve at room temperature or slightly chilled, garnished with the reserved thyme leaves.
Easy mezze salads
Giant bean salad
Alubia judion (available at Brindisa, 020 7407 1036 or www.sayellsfoods.co.uk) are huge Spanish beans. There are different types and all are quite expensive, but you can use dried butter beans instead. The salad is scrumptious. You can also use chickpeas or dried broad beans.
Serves 4-6
250g alubia judion, or butter beans, soaked in cold water for 12 hours with 1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 small garlic clove
juice of 1 lemon, or to taste
3 tbs extra virgin olive oil
2-3 flat-leaf parsley sprigs, most of the stalk discarded, finely chopped
sea salt
Drain the beans and rinse well, then put into a large pan and cover well with cold water. Bring to the boil, then lower the heat and simmer for 1 1/2 -2 hours, or until the beans are tender but not falling apart. Check every now and then during cooking that the water is still covering them completely.
Drain the beans well and transfer to a salad bowl. Add the garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, chopped parsley and salt to taste. Toss well and serve warm, or at room temperature.
Feta cheese salad
This scrumptious salad is also wonderful served in bread, such as sesame pitta. Or you can wrap it in pitta and cut it into bite-sized pieces to serve as Lebanese 'sushi'. The salad also makes a topping for bruschetta-style mezze.
Serves 4
1 Turkish Marmara pepper (or a small bell pepper) sliced quite small
1 medium red onion, peeled and finely diced
2 firm, ripe, medium tomatoes on the vine
200g feta cheese
1-2 tbs flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped, plus extra for garnish
3 tbs extra virgin olive oil
sea salt (if required)
Halve, core, deseed and thinly slice the pepper. Place in a large bowl with the diced onion. Halve and deseed the tomatoes, then cut into small cubes or thin slices and add to the bowl. Dice the feta and add to the salad with the chopped parsley. Drizzle over the olive oil and toss the salad carefully. Taste for seasoning - some feta is quite salty and you may not need any salt. Transfer to a dish and scatter over some parsley. Serve at room temperature.
Aubergine salad
This can be made with fried or boiled aubergines, or steamed, which is my favourite version.
Serves 4-6
2 medium aubergines, about 400g
3 garlic cloves, peeled
5 tbs extra virgin olive oil
2x400g cans of cherry tomatoes, drained
100g coriander sprigs, most of stalk removed, finely chopped
1/2 tsp ground cumin
juice of 1/2 lemon, or to taste
1/2 tsp dried chilli flakes
1/2 tsp finely ground black pepper
sea salt
1/4 tsp paprika
Add the aubergines to the tomato sauce together with the lemon juice, chilli flakes, pepper and salt to taste. Mix well and simmer over a low heat for another 15 minutes, stirring regularly. Add the paprika, then taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Serve at room temperature.
Herb and toasted pitta salad
Fattoush is becoming increasingly popular here, but the versions you are likely to come across are quite different from those eaten in Lebanon and Syria. An authentic fattoush doesn't necessarily include lettuce, and the bread may be soaked in the dressing, or even fried as it is in Syria - keeping it crisp but making the salad rather unhealthy. I achieve crispness by tossing the bread with the sumac (a lemony flavoured, dried berry, from Middle Eastern shops or www.spiceoflife.co.uk) and olive oil before mixing it into the salad.
Serves 6
1 medium pitta bread
3 tbs sumac (or fresh lemon juice)
6 tbs extra virgin olive oil
400g little gem lettuce
300g cucumbers (preferably small Middle Eastern cucumbers)
100g spring onions, trimmed
300g firm red tomatoes
200g flat-leaf parsley, most of the stalk removed, coarsely chopped
100g mint, leaves only, coarsely chopped
100g purslane, leaves only
sea salt
Open up the pitta bread at the seams, so you have two discs. Toast until golden brown on both sides, then break into bite-size pieces and place in a bowl. Sprinkle the sumac all over the toasted pitta pieces, then add the olive oil and toss well.
Remove any damaged outer leaves from the lettuce, then cut across into 1cm strips. If using a regular cucumber, peel, quarter lengthways and deseed; if using small cucumbers, simply halve lengthways. Cut the cucumbers across into slices. Thinly slice the spring onions. Chop the tomatoes into bite-sized pieces. Put these ingredients into a large salad bowl.
Add the herbs to the salad and season with salt to taste. Add the seasoned bread and toss well. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary. Serve immediately.
· Taken from Modern Mezze by Anissa Helou, with photographs by Vanessa Courtier (Quadrille, £18.99). To order a copy for £17.99 with free UK p&p go to theguardian.com/bookshop or call 0870 836 0875
