Sunday, October 14, 2012

Lemony Roast Vegetables With Ptitim

Keith the Reluctant Housedad (aka Big Chief Recipe Shed) took up my challenge to make a lemony vegetarian dish that isn't dessert. He came up with Lemony Middle Eastern Roast Vegetables with Zatar served on (so tempted to write: a bed of...) Fluffy Couscous and Feta Cheese. It looks amazing. I was especially intrigued by the cubes of lemon with the peel that get roasted with the vegetables. Of course I promised to cook it myself and blog about it...

Now what would be the point of reproducing exactly Keith's recipe and writing an almost identical post? Exactly. So I've made a few modifications....

1. Instead of butternut squash, I substituted aubergine. I love roast aubergine and it's still very Middle Eastern.

2. I'm not a fan of cooked chickpeas and anyway I use chickpeas a lot in my homemade humus and falafel. So I left out the chickpeas and put in garlic.

3. I forgot to buy a green pepper so I just have the red pepper and courgettes (mine are the light green ones rather than the dark ones that Keith used) to go with my aubergine and garlic.

4. I can't put feta cheese in my couscous because I'm doing a DIY-Detox with Jane from Diary Of a Desperate Exmoor Woman. I've cut out dairy completely so no cheese sorry.

5. We're not big on couscous although the couscous with feta sounds amazing. Seeing as I'm not doing the feta and I'm also trying to feed a 3yo I used coucous ptitim intsead.


About Ptitim

In the early days of the State of Israel in the 1950s, there were many refugees from Arab countries. They weren't used to the pasta and potatoes familiar to the Europeans. They cooked with couscous, lentils and rice. A cheap oven-baked pasta was created in the shapes of rice (like orzo), lentils, couscous, and the giant pearl couscous (maftoul or mograbeih). You cook it like rice or pasta. They are now a favourite Israeli food and come in rings, stars and hearts as well. Follow the links for a fuller account on Wikipedia.

So here it is:

For the marinade: Olive oil, lemon juice, zatar (if you can't find zatar cumin is also good and still Middle Eastern). I added salt and pepper though Keith didn't.

Cube the vegetables: aubergine, courgettes, red pepper, garlic (throw in whole cloves with the peel still on). I left out the whole cubed lemon as this was my second attempt. The one I made yesterday I found too lemony. Keith, however says he likes the sharpness so it's a matter of taste. I prefer a subtle hint of lemon.

Mix the marinade into the vegetables and leave to marinate for at least an hour.

Roast the vegetables in the oven for about an hour turning them over occasionally. (Yesterday I added black olives after about 45 minutes and it was a nice touch. Today I didn't have any.)

Squeeze the garlic cloves out of their peels and squash each one lightly with a fork to release the flavour.

Serve the roast vegetables on a bed of  (just kidding) with ptitim.






When I packed the leftovers away I mixed everything together and it actually looks like a very nice side dish to serve with fish or chicken.



Thanks Keith!


17 comments:

  1. I think both versions sound really nice! :)

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  2. Thank you. The truth is I was upset about not being able to add the feta as it sounds so good but I can't give up on this diy-detox thing.

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  3. Have you got the Ottolenghi cookbook? They have a lovely recipe for roasted new potatoes with jerusalem artichokes, with olives, tomatoes and lemons. It's delicious.

    Your dish looks great - and I've learnt something along the way...what ptitim is!

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    1. I've seen the Ottolenghi book in Hebrew but I would need it in English. They have it here but very expensive. That lemony recipe sounds good too.

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  5. Looks yummy - we just made wholewheat ptitim - trying to feel a bit more virtuous but in fact the regular ptitim are tastier if you ask me. I just got a delivery of 4 kilo of zaatar. Is that enough?

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    1. LOL - the regular always tastes better than the wholewheat, except for bread.

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    2. Janice - post an advert for you international delivery zatar business here. I'm inviting you...

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  6. Looks lovely...I think I would have to add the feta though!

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    1. Yes, I am mournng the feta but I have a higher calling...

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  7. Thanks - here is a link if you are in UK or Europe:

    http://holyroses.co.uk/p/product/0804075308-1+kilo+Zaatar+%28Za%27atar+Zatar+Z%27atar%29+Spice+Blend/

    and here is a link for USA and ROW - http://holyroses.com/p/category/0710102331-Spices%2C+Seeds+%26+Nuts+Mixes+/

    Smaller quanities available at bottom of the listings.


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    1. The links didn't appear as links. If anyone would like shipped zatar and other Israeli specialties, contact my friend Janice at

      http://holyroses.co.uk

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  8. *grin* I love the way you substitute every ingredient pretty much... :D

    LOVE Israeli food and, even though I'm not big on cooking I would LOVE that Jerusalem cookbook. Pricey here too though.

    Keep going with the detox! Love the look of your friend Janice's goodies - may have to indulge. :)

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  9. Check her out - she has loads of Israeli gifts. I LOLed at your first line - yup, I'm not very good at doing as I'm told...

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  10. Women always play about with recipes - with what ever they have / don't have at home. Men like lists to follow and to stick to recipes and will go to the supermarket to get stuff. I love your improvisation indeed.

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    1. That is so true. I once watched in amazement as a man measured out 250ml (1 cup) of boiling water to add to his cuppa soup as that's what it said on the sachet.

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