Photo: Jonathan Lovekin © 2012
While the famous Italian panzanella—a salad made from day-old crusty bread—must sit for a half hour or more so the bread can soften up, Israeli cooks have a faster version, say Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi, coauthors of Jerusalem: A Cookbook.
Serves 6
Ingredients
- Scant 1 cup Greek yogurt plus 2 Tbsp. whole milk, or 1 cup buttermilk (replacing both yogurt and milk)
- 2 large stale Turkish flatbread or naan (9 ounces in total)
- 3 large tomatoes (13 ounces in total), cut into 1/2-inch dice
- 3 ounces radishes, thinly sliced
- 3 Lebanese or mini cucumbers (9 ounces in total), peeled and chopped into 1/2-inch dice
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1/2 ounce fresh mint
- Scant 1 ounce flat-leaf parsley, coarsely chopped
- 1 Tbsp. dried mint
- 2 cloves garlic, crushed
- 3 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 1/4 cup olive oil, plus extra to drizzle
- 2 Tbsp. cider or white wine vinegar
- 3/4 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1 Tbsp. sumac or more to taste, to garnish
Directions
If using yogurt and milk, start at least 3 hours and up to a day in advance by placing both in a bowl. Whisk well and leave in a cool place or in the fridge until bubbles form on the surface. What you get is a kind of homemade buttermilk, but less sour.
Tear the bread into bite-size pieces and place in a large mixing bowl. Add your fermented yogurt mixture or commercial buttermilk, followed by the rest of the ingredients, mix well, and leave for 10 minutes for all the flavors to combine.
Spoon the fattoush into serving bowls, drizzle with some olive oil, and garnish generously with sumac.
Reprinted with permission from Jerusalem: A Cookbook by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi, copyright © 2012. Published by Ten Speed Press, a division of Random House, Inc.
More Exotic Recipes
Published 12/08/2012
