Middle Eastern Dips and Bread

Hummus
500 g chick peas
1/4 Cup lemon juice
1/3 Cup Tahini
2 tablespoon cold water
1 Tablespoon olive oil for garnish
Parsley chopped, for garnish
Paprika for garnish
Salt and pepper, to taste

Mix chick peas, lemon juice, tahini and water in a food processor until a smooth paste is formed. Garnish with paprika, parsley and olive oil.

Muhammara (Hot Pepper Dip)
3 medium onions, finely chopped
½ Cup plus 1 tablespoon olive oil
¾ Cup crushed walnuts
¾ Cup breadcrumbs blended with cold water to a purée
2 Tablespoons paprika
Pinch of ground cumin
Salt
1 tablespoon pine nuts sautéed in a little oil

Using a deep frypan, sauté the onions gently in the oil until soft and golden. Add the walnuts, breadcrumb purée, paprika, cumin and salt to taste. Continue to sauté gently on a low heat until the ingredients are well blended - about 12 minutes. Remove from the heat, place in a bowl and garnish with pine nuts.

Baba Ghannouj (Eggplant Dip)
1 large eggplant
1 clove garlic
1/4 - 1/2 Cup lemon juice
3 Tablespoons tahini
1 teaspoon salt
3 teaspoons olive oil
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
2 teaspoon olive oil

Preheat oven to 180 C and bake eggplant for 30 minutes, or until outside is crisp and inside is soft. Allow to cool for 20 minutes. Place eggplant flesh in a medium bowl. Add remaining ingredients and mash together, or pulse in a food processor hand. Place in serving bowl and top with lemon juice and olive oil.

Za'atar flatbread
1/3 Cup olive oil
2 Tablespoons sesame seeds
1 Tablespoon ground sumac
1 teaspoon dried thyme
Pita Bread
Mild paprika, extra, to serve
Olive oil, extra, to serve

Combine the sesame seeds, sumac and thyme in a mortar and pound with a pestle until crushed. Place the bread, in a single layer, on 2 baking trays. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with sesame mixture. Bake for 5 minutes or until crisp.

Moroccan Tagine

2 teaspoons vegetable oil
2 Cups chopped onion
2 large cloves garlic, crushed
1 Cup carrots, sliced crosswise ½ cm thick
1 large green capsicum, cut into ½ cm strips
1 teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon each: ground allspice, ground ginger, and turmeric
¼ teaspoon each: cinnamon, salt and cayenne pepper
1 Cup water
1 medium eggplant, peeled and cut into ¼ inch cubes
400 g can chopped tomatoes
400 g can chick peas, rinsed and drained

Heat oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and garlic. Cook, stirring occasionally, 3 minutes. Add carrots, capsicum, spices and ½ Cup water. Cook, stirring occasionally, 5 minutes.

Add all remaining ingredients. Cover and simmer over medium-low heat, 30 minutes or until vegetables are tender. Stir several times during cooking. Serve over couscous.

Eggplant Parmagiana

2 -3 large eggplants

Olive oil

1 bottle passata

500 g shredded mozzarella

Dried breadcrumbs

Preheat oven to 180 C.

Slice eggplants 1 cm thick. Heat a heavy pan, add 1 - 2 Tablespoons olive oil and begin lightly frying eggplant slices on both sides and remove and drain as you go.

Take a cassarole dish and spread some passata on base. Sprinkle some crumbs and layer eggplant slices, sauce and cheese until the last layer is sauce with mozzerella on top. Sprinkle liberally with crumbs and bake in centre of oven for at least 30 mins. It is cooked with a skewer or knife can be inserted using no pressure. Allow to cool a little before cutting and serving.Experiment with quantity of sauce you like, it may be too wet or not wet enough.