A fun, shareable Tunisian chickpea soup for a party, a one-pan moussaka, and a fragrant, layered, chocolate viennetta
T
raditionally, this would be a Tunisian breakfast, and it’s not a million miles from one of my favourites, Egyptian ful medames. But here I’m proposing it as an evening offering: make a big pot of delicious flavourful chickpeas, then lay out a spread of accompaniments (pickles, olives, capers, boiled eggs). Second, a good traditional moussaka is a wholesome but time-consuming process, but that’s not the case with this simplified version, which you can easily make on a weeknight. Finally, you might not be surprised to learn that this basil viennetta was one of the most popular recipes when we were testing dishes for my new book, MEDesque. First, of course, because it tastes unreal. Second, because everyone got a huge tug of nostalgia, and third, because everyone became giddy with excitement, trying to figure out what the flavour was.
Everyone gets to jazz up their own bowl however they like it for this fun dinner that’s also nourishing, healthy and delicious. I’ve heard that Tunisians eat this when they get home from a night out (in Cyprus, we have avgolemoni for the same purpose, served in bowls at a handful of late-night cafes at 2am). So you could use it for a crowd after a night on the tiles, if you want: a big bowl of these chickpeas will always sort you out.
