Fattouche

By: Greg Malouf, Lucy Malouf
From: Arabesque
Serves: 6
Photographer: William Meppem

Fattouche is a simple garden salad, and a handy way to use up stale pieces of Arabic bread. It is most delicious when the bread pieces are fried, but for a healthier option you can toast or grill them.

Ingredients

Quantity	Ingredient
2 teaspoons	sumac
1/4 teaspoon	allspice
1/4 teaspoon	pepper
1	medium purple onion, sliced
4	cos lettuce leaves, washed and dried
4	radishes, thickly sliced
2	tomatoes, roughly diced, ripe but firm
2	lebanese cucumbers, cut into chunky dice
1/3 cup	mint leaves, roughly chopped
1/2 cup	parsley leaves, roughly chopped
1/2 cup	purslane, (if available)
1 piece	arabic bread
60ml	olive oil
60g	butter
1	garlic clove, crushed with 1 teaspoon salt
1	lemon, juiced
40ml	extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 tablespoon	balsamic vinegar

Method

Soak the sumac in cold water for a few minutes and remove any husks or uncrushed berries which float to the top. Add the sumac, allspice and pepper to the sliced onion, and rub it in well. Cut the cos leaves crossways into 3 cm strips. Place them in a large salad bowl with the radishes, tomatoes, cucumbers and all the herb leaves.
Split the bread open and cut it into rough 2 cm triangular shapes. Melt the butter and oil in a frying pan until they are foaming and fry the bread in two batches until it is golden-brown, remove it with a slotted spoon and drain it on absorbent kitchen paper. Mix the garlic paste with the lemon juice. Whisk together the extra-virgin olive oil and balsamic vinegar.
When you are ready to serve, add the spiced onions to the other salad ingredients, add the lemon–garlic mix and stir well. Finally, pour over the dressing, add the pieces of fried bread, mix everything together gently and serve straight away.

Tags:: Middle East; Middle Eastern; Arabic; Arabian; Arabesque; Greg; Lucy; Malouf

Fattouche

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