Fatteh Veganized

The two things that are always present in Fatteh are tahini-laced yogurt and crunchy pita chips. Fatteh is a layered dish a little bit like nachos: toasted pita chips topped with a savory topping like cooked eggplant, meat and/or chickpeas, topped with yogurt sauce and finally garnished with textured and flavorful nuts, spices, vegetables or herbs.

Fatteh is a truly unique dish and one that that isn’t easily translatable to an American way of thinking about food. It can be an entrée, side dish, salad, breakfast or even an appetizer. It’s a dish that lends itself to be adapted, it can be made into a vegetarian, vegan or even a more meat-forward dish.

It varies widely in the parts of the world where it originates: Egypt, Levant, Jordan, Damascus, Beirut, Israel and Palestine. In Egypt, meat and an added layer of spiced rice are featured prominently. In other areas, it may be made completely vegetarian with chickpeas replacing the meat, no rice but lots of crunchy garnishes. The garnishes such as carrots, pine nuts, almonds and pomegranate seeds change widely too. In the version I am sharing below, I offer a vegan version of Fatteh using a cashew crema instead of yogurt. You can easily swap yogurt for the cashew crema in the recipe to simplify this recipe but also because it is equally delicious.

In this recipe, I am using chickpeas for the vegetarian protein but also wanted to increase the protein content of the dish by creating a cashew-based sauce for the Fatteh. The cashew crema has the double benefit of being dairy free and offering an increased protein content. I am also using sautéed eggplant to up the savory/umami taste in the recipe.

One of the neat things about this recipe is that it offers several individual recipes that can be used independently of this Fatteh recipe. The chips are great on their own for snacking. The cashew crema can be changed in countless ways for other recipes requiring a cream sauce element. The chickpeas and eggplant are delicious on their own with some rice.

Vegan Eggplant Fatteh

Scroll down for a printable version of this recipe

Yield: 4 entrée size portions

Hands on time: 1 hour

Start to finish: 1 hour with Vitamix, 24 hours without

For the Cashew Crema:

1 cup of raw cashews

3/4 cup of water

2 teaspoons nutritional yeast

1 teaspoon yellow miso

1 Tablespoon white wine vinegar

1 teaspoon sugar

1/4 cup tahini

2 Tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

For the Pita Chips:

3 Pita Bread

1/4 cup olive oil

1 teaspoon kosher salt

2 teaspoons sumac, optional

For the Sautéed Eggplant:

Eggplant 1 pound

1/4 cup olive oil

2 teaspoons zaatar

1 teaspoon kosher salt

For the Chickpeas:

1 can Chickpeas, drained and rinsed

1 cinnamon stick

2 garlic cloves, minced

2 teaspoons ginger, minced

1/2 teaspoon Aleppo pepper or ¼ teaspoon chili flakes, optional

1/3 cup of water

Garnishes:

1 cup parsley leaves

1/4 cup slivered or sliced almonds, toasted

Pomegranate molasses or pomegranate seeds

Step 1: Make the Cashew Crema

I am the proud owner of a Vitamix so I do not need to soak my cashews before making this recipe. If you do not have a high-powered blender, you will need to soak your cashews in two cups of water overnight.

1. Cover the cashews in water and refrigerate overnight. Drain the cashews.

2. Put all ingredients in blender and puree until completely smooth. If it seems a little thick, add a little water to thin it out.

*If you want to eliminate the cashew crema and use yogurt sauce: take 1 cup of Greek yogurt and whisk in 1/4 cup tahini, 1/2 teaspoon salt and 2 Tablespoons lemon juice.

Step 2: Make the Pita Chips

3. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Pull the pita bread apart by splitting them in half width wise and then breaking them into tortilla chip size pieces.

4. Toss the pita pieces with oil and seasonings until the ingredients are evenly distributed over the pieces of pita. This can take a few minutes so take some time tossing them to evenly distribute the oil and spices.

5. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes until crispy. Remove from oven and let cool.

Step 3: Make the Eggplant

6. Preheat a sauté pan over a medium high heat. In the same bowl you tossed the chips in, place diced, sliced, or wedged pieces of eggplant. I used larger wedges since they are easier to brown than diced. Toss eggplant with olive oil and zaatar and place them into the hot pan. Brown on one side and flip over. You can pop the eggplant in the oven to finish the cooking. This requires less time keeping an eye on the eggplant than on the stove, about 10 minutes more in the oven and the eggplant should be perfect.

Step 4: Make the Chickpeas

7. Take a small sauce pan and heat it over medium high heat. Place the cinnamon stick in the empty hot pan and toast just until you start to smell the cinnamon. Add oil, garlic, ginger, chili flakes to the cinnamon and sauté for 30 seconds. Follow with chickpeas and water and reduce the heat to a low simmer. Keep warm while making garnishes.

Step 5: Prepare Garnishes

8. Wash and dry parsley and remove stems.

9. Toast almonds at 350 degrees until lightly toasted.

Step 6: Assemble

10. Place a handful pita chips in a bowl or on a plate.

11. Top with 4 or 5 pieces of eggplant.

12. Top with 1/4 cup of chick peas.

13. Top with Cashew Crema (about 3 tablespoons), you can always add more at the table if needed. I over sauced mine a bit and regretted that.

14. Top with a drizzle of pomegranate molasses, about 2 teaspoons. You can always add more, so start with less.

15. Garnish with parsley and almonds and serve.

I hope you enjoy this recipe and a little dive into some new and exotic spices and cooking techniques. If you want to learn more on spices and their combination or world cuisines, our upcoming classes can take you to the next level. Don't miss Vegetarian Mediterranean where you will learn how to make a vegetarian feast inspired by the bold, fresh and zippy flavors of the Mediterranean on:

• Wednesday, April 10 6pm
• Saturday, April 27 12pm