middle east inspired

Pumpkin kibbeh is a vegan version of a traditional Arabic dish. Crispy bulgur wheat shell hides a spicy pumkpin and chickpea filling. Can be fried or baked.

Pumpkin kibbeh

extra fine bulgur wheat*

2½ tsp fine sea salt

2½ tsp baharat spice**

plain flour

½ onion, grated finely (optional)

reduced aquafaba (optional, SEE INSTRUCTIONS)

olive oil

red onion, diced finely

pumpkin

¼ cup cooked chickpeas, chopped

salt,

tsp baharat spice

½ tsp hot chilli (optional)

lemon

coriander OR parsley, chopped finely

sunflower oil

Rinse bulgur wheat, shake any excess water off and place it in a medium bowl. Pour 1¼ cup of boiling water over bulgur wheat and immediately cover the bowl with an upside down plate. Set aside for about 15-20 mins, until all the water gets absorbed. Start making the filling whilst waiting.

Unless you managed to buy extra fine bulgur wheat, I found that it is really helpful to give rehydrated bulgur wheat a good whizz in my food processor before combining it with other ingredients. This step makes it much easier to mould the dough into kibbeh shells afterwards, especially when it comes to medium and large size bulgur wheat.

Add salt, baharat spice, flour and finely grated onion (if using) to the rehydrated bulgur wheat. Knead it all well with your hands until you obtain a pliable dough.

If you would rather bake your kibbeh than fry them, I found that adding a tablespoon or two of reduced aquafaba (the more it resembles an egg white the better) helps as the balls do not dry out and crack as much in the oven. If you intend to fry them, you can safely skip this step.

Chill the dough in the fridge to ensure that it is easier to work with.

Heat up 2 tablespoons of oil in a heavy bottom frying pan. Add diced onion and saute on a low-medium heat until translucent, stirring from time to time.

Add baharat spice and fry it off gently on a low heat, stirring the whole time.

Add baked pumpkin, chickpeas, walnuts, sultanas and a splash of water. Season with salt, sumac and chilli if using. Cook for a few minutes until all the flavours come together well and the water cooks out.

Let the filling cool down. Finally, mix in the chopped herbs.

Remove the dough from the fridge and prepare a small bowl of water so that you can keep your hands moist while forming kibbeh balls.

Wet your hands. Take a spoon of the shell mixture and mould it into a shell against your left hand with your right hand (unless you are left-handed). Once you get a compact shell, place a teaspoon of the filling mixture in the middle and mould the dough around it. Fill any holes with extra mixture and smooth the surface of the ball with wet fingers. Make sure there are no gaps in the shell as otherwise the kibbeh may burst during frying.

Once you've made all the kibbeh balls, heat up a small pot of frying oil on the stove. If you don't want to fry them, heat up the oven to 355°F / 180°C and brush all the kibbeh with a generous amount of oil. Space them on a baking tray and bake for about 40 mins, or until golden brown.

Once the oil comes to temperature (test it by dropping a piece of dough in. If it starts sizzling immediately, the oil is ready), lower a few kibbeh balls (make sure they have plenty of space in between them) into the hot oil. Fry them for about 2-3 minutes on one side, then flip them onto the other side with a fork and fry for another 2-3 minutes, or until golden brown.

Fish ready kibbeh out with a slotted spoon and place them on a piece of paper towel to drain any excess oil.

Serve immediately after frying with a drizzle of vegan yoghurt or a simple tahini sauce, and a simple salad.

Moroccan chickpea stew is an easy, delicious and filling dish that makes an ideal weekday dinner or post-exercise recovery meal. It's vegan and gluten-free.

Moroccan chickpea stew

garlic cloves, finely chopped

shallots, finely chopped

tomatoes tomatoes

½ tsp sweet paprika

¼-½ tsp cayenne pepper

¾ tsp salt, adjust

brown sugar

black pepper,

tomato paste

chickpeas

potato

barberries

black Kalamata olives, pitted

almonds,

fresh parsley, chopped (optional)

couscous

Chop almonds diagonally. Put a small frying pan on a medium heat and dry roast almonds until lightly browned and fragrant. Make sure you move them around the pan frequently as they burn easily.

Heat up the oil in a large frying pan (ideally with a lid). Add chopped shallots and fry on a low heat until almost translucent, stirring from time to time.

Add chopped garlic. Keep on stirring frequently until the onion is translucent and garlic softens completely and releases its beautiful aroma.

Add all the ground spices to the fried shallots and garlic mixture and stir them around well. Fry them off gently for a minute or two stirring the whole time as they burn easily.

Add tomato paste to the pan and stir it into the shallot and garlic mixture.

Add chopped tomatoes, sweet potato cubes, salt and add half of the sugar to the pan. Cover the pan with a lid to cook chopped sweet potato. After about 12 minutes of simmering, take the lid off and let the sauce thicken by simmering it slowly, without the lid. Give the sauce a good stir from time to time.

Once the sauce thickens, taste it and season with some black pepper and more sugar if needed.

Finally, stir in cooked chickpeas, olives and currants and let them warm through. Serve over rice, quinoa or couscous, topped with toasted almonds and chopped parsley.

This vegan date baklava is a healthier take on this classic Middle-Eastern dessert. It's filled an aromatic date and nut mixture and glazed with homemade date syrup instead of sugar syrup. It's easy to make, delicious and makes a great tea or coffee companion.

Vegan date baklava

water

120 ml / ½ cup date syrup, shop-bought or homemade

tbsp lemon juice, adjust to taste

dates

/ approx. 185 g almonds

1½ cup / approx. 150 g walnuts

orange

cinnamon

¼ tsp fine sea salt

tbsp shelled pistachios, very finely chopped

Put date syrup, water and lemon juice (if using) into a small pot and gently bring to the boil.

Simmer on a very low heat until you get a thin syrup that coats the back of a spoon.

Soak your pitted dates in boiling water for about 20 minutes.

Place the soaked dates (discard soaking water), nuts, orange zest, cinnamon and salt in a food processor.

Process until you get a mixture of uniform texture that sticks together, but isn't overly wet (as this will make your baklava soggy). I added a few tablespoons (about 6 tbsp / 90 ml) of water to mine to make it a touch less dry, but it very much depends on how sticky your dates are so please proceed with caution.

Remove the filo pastry from the fridge and let it sit at room temperature for about 10 minutes - this makes it easier to handle.

Prepare a baking tin by brushing it with a small amount of oil. Wet two clean kitchen towels and wring them both out really well.

Trim your filo pastry to the size of your baking dish and use larger trimmings as interior layers - the more layers the better. Remove the first sheet of pastry from the packaging (cover the rest with a damp kitchen towel to prevent them drying out) and trim it to size of your dish - this should be your template moving forward.

Place the first sheet at the bottom of the greased baking dish and brush it with a small amount of oil - don't load your brush with lots of oil as you don't want a greasy end result, a few gentle brush strokes will do.

Follow up with 3 more sheets, brushing each one with a little oil as you go.

Now, sprinkle half of your filling mixture on top evenly.

Follow up with another 3 more sheets - construct extra layers from some of your larger offcuts. I only had 7 sheets in my filo packet, but thanks to generous offcuts I created an extra 3 layers to go in the middle. Again, make sure to brush each layer with a little oil as you go along.

Sprinkle the remainder of the filling and cover with another 3-4 layers of lightly greased filo. Like I said earlier, the more layers the better.

Finally, lightly oil the top sheet and cut into small pieces with a sharp knife. You can go for squares, rectangles or diamonds, like I did.

Bake in a pre-heated oven for about 45 minutes, until the top is nicely browned.

As soon as the baklava is ready, brush it while still piping hot with the cold (that's important as otherwise it'll end up soggy) syrup. Sprinkle with finely chopped pistachios. If you made more than you are able to eat, just freeze the remainder.

This vegan tagine with butternut squash is easy to make, filling and comforting. It makes excellent leftovers as it tastes better a day after it was made. Naturally gluten-free.

Vegan tagine with butternut squash

onion,

tsp coriander

tsp cumin

ginger

nutmeg

¼ tsp chilli flakes

saffron

cardamom pods

bay leaves

tomatoes

preserved lemon, chopped very finely

raisins

butternut squash

g / 3.5 oz kale, tough stems removed

240 g / 1½ cups cooked chickpeas (approx. ½ cup raw)

almond flakes, to serve (optional)

pomegranate arils, to serve

Heat up the oil in a heavy-bottomed pot that you have a lid for.

Add the diced onion and fry it gently until almost translucent (for about 7 minutes), stirring from time to time.

Add the chopped garlic. Keep on frying gently until the onion is translucent and the garlic softens completely and releases its beautiful aroma (approx. 5 minutes).

Stir all the ground spices into the onion-garlic mixture. Fry them off on a very low heat for a minute or two (stirring the whole time as if they burn they'll taste bitter).

Add the chopped tomatoes, 2 tins worth of water, saffron, cardamom pods, bay leaves, preserved lemon, raisins and salt to the pan. Simmer, covered, until the tomato chunks fall apart and the sauce looks more or less homogeneous (about 45 minutes).

Remove the lid and keep on cooking the stew on low-medium heat to allow excess water to evaporate so that the stew thickens.

You can cook the butternut squash in the stew (it takes about 20 minutes), but I prefer to do so separately as it allows for greater control over its 'doneness'. Bake in a 200° C / 390° C oven for about 25-30 minutes or steam for 30 minutes.

Once the sauce thickens, taste it and season with a generous amount of black pepper, more salt if needed and add some date syrup (or sugar) if you find the dish too acidic.

Chuck in the chopped kale for the final 10 minutes and cover the pot with a lid to allow the kale to cook in the sauce. You could also steam it separately for 10 minutes and add it to the tagine at the end.

Finally, stir in the cooked chickpeas and let them warm through. Serve over cooked couscous (or rice), sprinkled with toasted almond flakes and pomegranate seeds.

Date syrup is a potassium and calcium-rich liquid sweetener made exclusively of dates and water. It's easy and cheap to make at home. Its deliciously sweet, fruity taste makes it amazing in baking, drizzled on your porridge and pancakes or even stirred into your tea.

Date syrup (Silan)

Soak your dates in boiling water for 20 minutes to get rid of impurities, discard the soaking water afterwards.

Place the soaked dates in a large lidded pot with 1 litre / 4 cups of water. Bring to a gentle boil, simmer, covered, for 1-2 hrs (2 is better if you have time).

Place a sieve over a large bowl and line the sieve with a large piece of cheesecloth or use a nut bag.

Squeeze all of the water from the cooked dates really well. You'll need to do this in smaller batches unless you have a very large piece of cheesecloth. You should get about 2 cups of liquid.

Pour the date juice into a pot and allow it to come to a gentle simmer. Simmer, uncovered, for about 45-60 minutes until the excess water evaporates and the syrup reduces by approximately half. If you dip a spoon in it, the syrup should coat the back of it - the syrup will become even thicker after cooling. If the syrup is too thin for your liking, return it to the heat and reduce some more, but be careful not to over reduce.

Sabih with spiced chickpeas is a gorgeous and easy to make street food that hails from Israel's multicultural past. It's vegan and can be gluten-free too.

Sabih with spiced chickpeas

aubergines / eggplants

tsp fine salt

cornstarch / cornflour (optional)

chickpeas,

tsp smoked paprika

½ tsp chilli powder, adjust to taste

fine sea salt,

coriander leaves

g / ½ cup packed fresh parsley leaves

green chillies

½ tsp ground cumin

¼ tsp ground cardamom

¼ tsp ground cloves

sugar

salt

tbsp extra virgin olive oil

lemon juice

60 ml / 4 tbsp tahini

garlic clove, grated

maple syrup

salt & pepper,

Lebanese cucumber

spring onion, sliced

lemon juice,

mango pickle (also known as amba)

pitas (GF if necessary)

classic hummus (recipe here), optional

Cut aubergines into 2.5 cm / 1" slices. Sprinkle with salt on both sides and set aside for 30 minutes for any excess moisture and bitterness to go.

After 30 minutes, wipe the salt off with a piece of kitchen towel. Blot the slices on the kitchen towel until completely dry.

Heat up a medium non-stick pan with 1 tbsp of oil. Meanwhile, sprinkle the first batch of sliced aubergine with a thin layer of cornstarch - this is optional and not a traditional thing to do, but it minimises the amount of oil the aubergine soaks up during frying and gives it a nice, delicately, crispy texture on the outside. Repeat with the remaining aubergine slices as the first batch finishes frying (sprinkling cornstarch in advance makes aubergine get slippery so wait till just before you are ready to place it on a hot pan).

Once the oil gets medium-hot, place the aubergine slices on the pan and fry them gently until they are browned (about 3-4 min), then flip them to the other side and continue in the same manner. Once you are done with the first batch, continue with the remaining batches adding oil as needed.

Make sure your chickpeas are completely cooled (if you cooked them yourself from scratch) and drained.

Mix all the spices together with a few pinches of salt in a small bowl.

Heat up a heavy-bottomed pan on a medium-high heat. Pour olive oil on the hot pan and wait a few seconds for the oil to heat up.

Chuck the drained chickpeas into the hot oil and roast the chickpeas for a few minutes, until lightly browned here and there. Make sure you stir them often.

Stir the spice mix in and coat the chickpeas in it. Take the pan off the heat and allow the spices to finish off roasting in the residual heat (ground spices can burn really easily and become bitter). Check the seasoning and set aside.

Place the tahini in a small bowl. Add enough water to achieve a creamy and almost pourable consistency sauce - the amount of water depends on the type of your tahini. Mix the two together vigorously.

Season with garlic, maple syrup, salt, pepper and lemon juice (adjust acidity to your palate). Set aside.

Place coriander, parsley and deseeded chilli in a food processor along with a clove of garlic and all of the spices.

Process, drizzling in some olive oil (I used about 4 tbsp), water and lemon juice (if you like). Take care not to overprocess as this sauce is meant to be a bit on the chunky side (it's traditionally made by hand).

Season with salt, pepper and a pinch of sugar.

Core tomatoes, discard the seeds and chop the fleshy part into a small dice.

Place diced tomatoes and cucumber into a small bowl, mix in sliced spring onions and chopped parsley. Dress with a squeeze of lemon and a tablespoon of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Top warmed-up pitas with hummus (if using), fried aubergine, spicy chickpeas, Israeli salad and condiments (tahini sauce, zhoug and mango pickle).

Top 6 middle east inspired recipes from across the web

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Top Tags

Pumpkin kibbeh

Moroccan chickpea stew

Vegan date baklava

Vegan tagine with butternut squash

Date syrup (Silan)

Sabih with spiced chickpeas

Top 6 middle east inspired recipes from across the web

The most viewed middle east inspired recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engineic_arrow_forward_48px

Top Tags

Pumpkin kibbeh

Moroccan chickpea stew

Vegan date baklava

Vegan tagine with butternut squash

Date syrup (Silan)

Sabih with spiced chickpeas

The most viewed middle east inspired recipes by Recipe Cart users, saved from over 20,000 sites. Or, go to our Recipe Search Engine