Middle Eastern food and drink

The popular vegan restaurants Middle Eastern repertoire includes a spicy red lentil soup-stew with pasta and yoghurt, a tart filled with feta and Levantine cauli, and wraps stuffed with sweetly spiced jackfruit and toasted nuts

Sarah Wasserman

Wed 10 Jan 2024 03.00 EST

This hearty soup is closer to a stew. It is rich with tomatoes and lentils, and made even more substantial by the addition of vermicelli or, if you prefer, rice. We use a ras el hanout spice mix, a name that translates as top of the shop, implying the finest spices available; blends vary, but are typically made up of cumin, coriander, cardamom, ginger and saffron. The fragrant spices infuse the soup with aroma, making this comforting bowl the perfect thing to come home to after a long day.

Prep 20 minCook 45 minServes 68

4-5 tbsp olive oil 2 brown onions, peeled and finely diced 2cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped 1 tbsp ras el hanout, or baharat spice mix tsp ground turmeric 1 tsp cumin seeds 2 bay leaves (fresh, ideally) 2 carrots, trimmed, peeled and finely diced 2 celery sticks, trimmed, peeled and finely diced 1 handful flat-leaf parsley, stalks finely chopped, leaves roughly chopped 100g red lentils, rinsed well and drained 1 litres vegetable stock 2 tbsp tomato puree 400g tomato passata 12 tbsp harissa paste (rose harissa works really well here), plus extra to finish (optional) 1 tsp caster sugar 100g vermicelli, broken into 2-3cm lengths, or 150g cooked rice Salt and black pepper

To serve Coconut yoghurt Lemon wedges (optional)

Put the oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan on a medium heat. Add the onions, cook for two minutes, until translucent, then turn down the heat to low and add the ginger, spices and bay leaves. Cook gently for a few seconds, until fragrant, then add the carrots, celery and parsley stalks, and cook for another five minutes, until the carrots start to lose their bite.

Add the lentils, cook, stirring, for five minutes, then add the stock, tomato puree, passata, harissa and sugar. Bring to a simmer, then cook gently, stirring often, for 20-30 minutes, until the lentils are cooked.

Add the vermicelli, cook for a further five to 10 minutes, until the pasta is cooked, then season. Serve topped with chopped parsley leaves and dollops of yoghurt, with extra harissa and lemon wedges on the side.

A simple but beautiful centrepiece, this galette is a great way to celebrate cauliflower. It will work with one medium-to-large cauliflower, but if you have a couple of different types, from purple and golden to the psychedelic romanesco, so much the better.

Prep 20 minCook 45 minServes 4-6

500g cauliflower florets 300g shop-bought shortcrust pastry Plain flour, for dusting 70g vegan feta-style cheese, crumbled A little plant-based cream, for brushing Chopped pistachios, to garnish

For the chermoula bunch coriander, roughly chopped 1 tsp fresh oregano leaves, roughly chopped 20g preserved lemon, deseeded, flesh and skin roughly chopped 2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped 5 tbsp olive oil 1 tsp salt tsp ground turmeric tbsp caster sugar

First, make the marinade. Put all the chermoula ingredients except the sugar in a stick blender jug, pulse chop in bursts until it breaks down into a rough, pesto-like mix, then stir in the sugar until it dissolves (or do so by hand with a pestle and mortar).

Heat the oven to 180C (160C fan)/350F/gas 4. Arrange the cauliflower on an oven tray, pour over the marinade, toss to coat, then roast for eight to 10 minutes, until the florets start to turn golden.

Meanwhile, on a large sheet of baking paper, roll out the pastry to an even 3mm-thick circle, dusting with flour as necessary. Prick the centre of the pastry a few times with a fork, then arrange half the roast cauliflower in a circle on top, leaving a 5cm border all around the edge. Sprinkle over the feta, then arrange the rest of the cauliflower on top.

Fold the edges of the pastry up and over the cauliflower at the border, then brush the exposed pastry with plant-based cream. Bake the galette for 25-30 minutes, until golden and firm , garnish with the pistachios and serve.

Iranian cuisine is known for its use of fragrant ingredients such as rose, pomegranate, dried limes, apricots and fresh walnuts. This delicious marinade works well with canned jackfruit, which has almost no taste of its own, so makes a terrific vehicle for this sweet, aromatic blend of flavours. Serve with a soft herb salad we make ours with sliced cucumber, radishes, pomegranate seeds, coriander, dill and mint, all dressed in a little lemon and salt.

Prep 15 minCook 20 minServes 4

250g canned jackfruit, drained well 2 red onions, peeled and very finely sliced 60g toasted walnuts, chopped 2 tbsp pomegranate seeds 4 flatbreads, ideally lavash 4 tbsp plant-based yoghurt we prefer coconut

For the Persian apricot marinade 1 tsp coriander seeds 1 tsp cumin seeds 3 tbsp vegetable oil 1 tbsp apricot harissa, or tbsp harissa paste mixed with tbsp finely chopped dried apricots 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses 2 garlic cloves, peeled 1 tbsp soft light brown sugar tsp salt The juice of 1 orange 20g coriander leaves, chopped

Heat the oven to 220C (200C fan)/425F/gas 7. To make the marinade, toast the coriander and cumin seeds in a small dry frying pan on a medium heat for a minute or so, until fragrant, then transfer to a food processor. Add all the other marinade ingredients and blend to combine.

Toss the jackfruit and sliced onions on a baking tray, pour over the apricot marinade and toss again to coat. Roast for 15 minutes, stirring once halfway, then take out of the oven and sprinkle over the walnuts and pomegranate seeds.

To serve, gently warm the flatbreads in the oven. Smear a tablespoon of yoghurt across the middle of each flatbread, then top with the jackfruit mixture, followed by some herb salad. Roll and serve immediately.

Sarah Wasserman is head of food development at Mildreds. These recipes are edited extracts from Mildreds Easy Vegan: Exciting Food. Simply Cooked, co-authored with Alessandra Malacarne and published by Octopus at 26. To order a copy for 22.88, go to guardianbookshop.com

Should we all be vegan? On Tuesday 30 January at 8pm GMT, food writer and Guardian columnist Meera Sodha joins a live-streamed discussion on the pros, cons, realities and myths of a plant-based diet. Tickets available here.

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Mildreds vegan takes on Middle Eastern classics recipes - The Guardian