Credit where credit is due, this is something I saw at least 10 years ago when the inimitable Yotam Ottolenghi did a TV series on the islands of the Mediterranean. Through a bit of sleuthing, I managed to find a recording online, tried the recipe, and got something I thought was worth memorializing here.

Of course, it took me such a long time to try this because the bread used to make Cretan dakos, barley paximathia, aren’t exactly something easy to find at the grocery store. It took a happy accident getting lunch one weekend at a local Greek fast casual chain to make this happen.

That said, I think this could also work with normal stale sourdough bread or something like a rye crispbread that’s available in a lot of supermarkets.

Despite being baked, I do think getting great tomatoes makes a big difference here. I wouldn’t make this outside the summer when you can get your hands on great ones.

Ingredients

Paximathi

• 8-10 barley paximathi
• 30 g water
• 30 g red wine vinegar
• 30 g olive oil

Chickpeas

• 400 g cooked chickpeas
• Salt
• 15 g olive oil
• 1/8 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon paprika
• 1/4 teaspoon cumin
• 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano

Tomatoes

• 700 g (about 3) heirloom tomatoes, half grated, half roughly chopped
• 1/2 red onion, finely diced
• 1 clove garlic, finely minced
• Olive oil
• Salt

Garnish

• Fresh basil
• Greek yogurt
• Olive oil

Method

Preheat an oven to 200 °C (400 °F).

Break the paximathi up into roughly bite-size chunks. Scatter them into a large, oven-safe baking dish.

Then roughly stir together the water, vinegar, and olive oil, and drizzle it evenly over the prepared paximathi to begin hydrating them.

Toss the chickpeas together with salt to taste, plus the 15 g of olive oil and herbs and spices. Pour the chickpeas over the paximathi in the baking tray.

Toss together the tomatoes, both chopped and grated, with the red onion and garlic, plus olive oil and salt to taste. Then tumble the tomatoes into the baking dish over the paximathi and chickpeas. Tear over a handful of basil leaves.

Transfer the baking dish to the preheated oven. Bake the dish for around 20-30 minutes. Everything should be warmed through. The paximathi should be softened, but still crisp in places.

Dollop Greek yogurt over the finished bake and drizzle over olive oil to taste.

Let the bake cool slightly and serve it lukewarm.

I’ve learned to be skeptical about vegan substitutes. While I try to keep an open mind, it would take some serious persuasion to get me to try another avocado-based chocolate mousse.

Substituting aquafaba — the residual water leftover from cooking chickpeas — works surprisingly well, though.

As far as I can tell, this can be used like any French meringue. It can be piped with a star tip into flower-like rounds. I usually more roughly pile the meringue out into larger disks ready to use in a pavlova.

Ingredients

• 200 g aquafaba
• 1 g cream of tartar
• 100 g sugar

Method

Pour the aquafaba into the bowl of a stand mixer along with the cream of tartar. Using the whisk attachment, mix on a medium speed until the mixture is light and frothy. This should take a few minutes.

Then raise the speed of the mixer to very high, and slowly pour in the sugar. Keep whisking the mixture until it’s smooth, glossy, and holds stiff peaks. This should take around 5 to 7 more minutes, but will depend on the mixer.

Preheat an oven to 95 °C (200 °F).

Pipe or spread the meringue onto a baking tray lined with a Silpat or parchment paper.

Bake the meringues until the surface has set to the touch. Depending on size, this could take anywhere from 1.5 to 3 hours depending on the

This chickpea preparation is dead-simple. It was a pandemic discovery via the incomparable Ottolenghi team.

The most challenging part is crushing the spices. In all honesty, I’m not above using pre-ground cumin or coriander when I’m feeling extra lazy.

Ingredients

For the chickpeas

• 2 x 400 g cans chickpeas, drained
• 11 garlic cloves, peeled, 10 left whole and 1 crushed
• 30 g fresh ginger, peeled and julienned
• 400 g cherry tomatoes, halved
• 3 red chilies, a slit cut down their length
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 teaspoons cumin seeds, roughly crushed in a mortar and pestle
• 2 teaspoons coriander seeds, roughly crushed in a mortar and pestle
• 1⁄2 teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1⁄2 teaspoon chilli flakes
• 2 teaspoons red Kashmiri chili powder
• 200 mL olive oil
• Salt

For the yogurt sauce

• 180 g Greek-style yogurt
• 15 g picked mint leaves
• 30 g fresh cilantro, roughly chopped
• Limes
• Salt

Method

Preheat an oven to 150 °C (300 °F).

Add the chickpea ingredients to a large oven-safe pot with a lid. Stir everything together until the mixture is uniform. Cover the pot with the lid, and place the vessel in the preheated oven.

Cook the chickpeas until everything is very soft, about 90 minutes.

For the sauce, stir together the yogurt, mint, and cilantro with a squeeze of lime and salt to taste.

Season the chickpeas to taste. Serve with the yogurt sauce and lime wedges.