1 round white or brown pitta (100g), pocket opened up, roughly torn into 2-3cm pieces
1 tablespoon za’atar
75ml extra virgin olive oil
3 x 400g tins of cannellini beans, drained
30g parsley, roughly chopped
30g fresh coriander, roughly chopped
30g chives, roughly chopped
1¼ teaspoons cumin seeds, toasted and roughly crushed with a pestle and mortar
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
2½ tablespoons lemon juice
salt and black pepper
For the tahini sauce
80g tahini
1½ tablespoons lemon juice
1 garlic clove, peeled and crushed
For the chilli oil
2½ tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
½ teaspoons chilli flakes
¼ teaspoon paprika
Heat the oven to 200° celcius (180° fan forced). Toss the pitta with the za’atar, two tablespoons of olive oil, a quarter-teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper, and spread out on a medium baking tray lined with baking paper. Bake for 12 minutes, tossing halfway, or until golden and crisp. Set aside to cool.
Set aside 100g of the beans in a medium bowl. Put the remaining beans, 600ml of water and one teaspoon of salt into a medium saucepan on a medium-high heat. Bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes, or until the beans are softened and warmed through. Keep warm on a low heat until ready to serve.
Make the tahini sauce by whisking all the ingredients with 70ml of water and a quarter of a teaspoon of salt in a medium bowl until smooth. It will thicken as it sits.
Make the chilli oil by putting the oil and chilli flakes into a small frying pan and placing it on a medium heat. Cook for four minutes, then add the paprika and remove from the heat. Set aside.
Put the reserved 100g of beans into a food processor with the herbs, cumin, garlic, lemon juice, remaining three tablespoons of olive oil, one eighth of a teaspoon of salt and a good grind of pepper. Blitz until smooth, then transfer to a large bowl.
Drain the warm beans in a sieve set over a bowl, then add them and 100ml of their cooking liquid to the herb mixture, mixing well to combine. You want the beans to be well coated and for the whole mixture to be saucy (but not overly wet), so add a couple of tablespoons more of the cooking liquid if you wish (discard the rest).
Transfer to a large, lipped platter and drizzle over half the tahini sauce and all the chilli oil. Sprinkle with half the pitta and serve warm, with the extra tahini and pitta alongside.
Recipe – Yotam Ottolenghi and Noor Murad
Ottolenghi Test Kitchen – Shelf Love
