Vegetarian Fatteh (Pita with Chickpeas & Yogurt)

So I know most of you know hummus, falafel, fava beans, tabbuleh, and baba ghannoush are all popular Middle Eastern recipes, but have you heard of fatteh? Fatteh is a very popular Egyptian and Levantine recipe that consists of toasted pita and yogurt. People enjoy it for breakfast and for dinner depending on what they add to it. My mom will make one with just chickpeas as a breakfast fatteh and she will also make one with chicken as a dinner fatteh. But fun fact, I have always avoided fatteh growing up because Arabs douse butter onto the top and it always grossed me out. But two weeks ago, someone messaged me on Instagram for my fatteh recipe and it inspired me to "health-ify" it.

So, I created this Vegetarian Fatteh with Morningstar's Veggie Grillers Crumbles, Greek yogurt, tahini, chickpeas, pine nuts, parsley, and whole wheat pita bread. It was... absolutely delicious and it makes for a perfect breakfast, lunch, or dinner. It's filled with incredibly nutritious sources of protein and fats and it took such little time. YOU can make this Vegetarian Fatteh in under 30 minutes. So, if you want to try a new Middle Eastern recipe, I suggest you try my "health-ified" version out!

Yields: 3

Portion: 1 bowl

Prep time: 15 minutes

Total time: 30 minutes

This recipe is vegetarian.

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Ingredients:

¾ bag of Morningstar Veggie Grillers Crumbles

1 15oz can of chickpeas (but if you want to do it the authentic way, use fresh chickpeas)

1 loaf of whole wheat pita bread

1 cup of Greek yogurt

1 TBSP of tahini

1 TBSP of pine nuts

2 cloves of garlic

3 mini pearl onions

Fresh parsley to garnish

Kosher salt

Cinnamon and nutmeg

1 lemon

Extra virgin olive oil

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Instructions:

1. First, preheat your oven to 375.

2. If you are using fresh chickpeas, soak them overnight. Then boil them to cook properly. But if you're using canned chickpeas, make sure to have them drained and washed properly. Put them in a bowl for later use.

3. Grab your pita bread and use scissors to cut the bread up into thinner, elongated slices. Lay them on a baking tray. Drizzle on olive oil and bake in the oven until crispy. Don't forget them in the oven!

4. Now while you're waiting for the pita bread to bake, let's make the yogurt spread. In a bowl, mix the yogurt, juice of ½ lemon, tahini, and salt to your liking. Add in the minced garlic and minced pearl onions in as well. Mix very well. Make sure it's an even consistency.

5. Now, grab your Morningstar grillers crumbles and pine nuts. In a frying pan, add in 1 TBSP of olive oil and once the olive oil simmers, add in ¾ of the bag into the pan and the pine nuts. Have the heat on medium-high.

6. Season with ½ TSP of nutmeg and ½ TSP of cinnamon. Mix well. Salt to your liking but not too much since the pita bread and yogurt are salted. Sauté for 5 minutes max.

8. Now it's time to layer. Grab a serving dish, and layer the pita bread slices all over the bottom. Next, pour on the yogurt-tahini mix. Evenly spread out the chickpeas. Then, sprinkle on the grillers crumbles and pine nuts evenly. Garnish with fresh parsley. Enjoy!

I hope you love this recipe as much as I did, so if you do, please leave me a comment and/or give this recipe a rating! I always read through my suggestions and comments, so please let me know your thoughts. If you have any questions you can feel free to DM me here or through Instagram. Speaking of Instagram - please tag me in all of your creations! I love seeing how the recipes come out and seeing how talented you all are. Sending my love.

xoxo,

Jasmin D the RD