Fattoush with crisp pita

Name: Fattoush with crisp pita
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 6 servings
Cuisine: Middle Eastern
Ingredients: 2 Pita bread, day-old, torn into pieces; 120 ml Olive oil, for frying and dressing; 1 head Romaine lettuce, chopped; 4 Tomatoes, cut into wedges; 2 Cucumbers, half-mooned; 6 Radishes, thinly sliced; 4 Spring onions, sliced; 30 g Flat-leaf parsley, roughly chopped; 15 g Fresh mint leaves; 30 g Purslane, if you can find it; 60 ml Lemon juice; 30 ml Pomegranate molasses; 1 Garlic clove, grated; 2 tsp Sumac; 1 tsp Fine sea salt

The bright, sumac-sharp salad that cuts through rich grilled meat. Crisp fried pita, tomato, cucumber, radish and herbs in a pomegranate-lemon dressing — dressed at the last second so the bread stays crunchy.

30 min totalmildeasy

Instructions

1
Tear the pita into rough 3 cm pieces. Day-old bread crisps better than fresh.
2
Fry the pieces in 60 ml of olive oil over medium heat, turning often, until deep golden and brittle — about 5 minutes. Drain on paper and salt lightly. For a lighter version, bake at 200°C for 8 minutes instead.
3
Whisk the lemon juice, pomegranate molasses, grated garlic, 1 tsp of the sumac, salt and the remaining olive oil into a glossy dressing.
4
Combine the lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, radish, spring onion, parsley, mint and purslane in a wide bowl.
5
Pour over the dressing and toss gently with your hands so the leaves are coated but not bruised.
6
Add the crisp pita only at the moment of serving, toss once, and finish with the remaining sumac.
7
Serve immediately — fattoush waits for no one, and soggy bread is the one failure mode.

Notes

Salt the tomatoes separately for ten minutes and add their juices to the dressing for extra depth. Pomegranate molasses varies wildly in sweetness between brands, so taste and balance with lemon. Purslane is traditional but rocket makes a fine stand-in.

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