3 Quick & Easy Recipes w/ Extra Virgin Olive Oil

On April 2nd, Muslims all around the world welcomed the holy month of Ramadan, wherein from sun-up to sundown, Muslims fast from food and drink and perpetuate kindness, togetherness and sharing.

In short, Ramadan is the month of giving back to our communities and in that spirit, we thought what better time than this, to thank you for your support with nutritious, quick and easy recipes.

We are kicking things off with 3 recipes, one of which is vegan (and another can be made vegan with a simple swap): a quick side dish, a main dish and a sunny dessert.

Recipe #1: Baba Ghanouj

Eaten all over the Middle East, you could say that Baba Ghanouj is an ellusive dish.

While many know it as a fine purée of eggplants and Tahini (a paste made from lightly toasted white sesame seeds) and other aromatics, that same preparation is known under a different name depending on where you are in the Middle East.

For today’s recipe, we will be taking inspiration from Lebanon, where Baba Ghanouj is an exciting affair.

Did we mention that this side dish is vegan? Steps to make it are below:

Ingredients:

• 2 large eggplants (500 g)
• 1 red bell pepper
• 1 small green pepper
• 1 medium tomato
• 1 small onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 3/4 tsp salt
• lemon juice, to taste
• 2 tbsp pomegranate molasses
• 100ml extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tbsp chopped parsley
• 1 tbsp chopped fresh mint

Instructions:

1. Finely mince garlic clove, tomato, onion and green pepper. Set aside.
2. Puncture the eggplant. Roast it and the red bellpepper over the stove or in the oven, 15 to 20 minutes.
3. Once roasted, cover eggplant and pepper to steam and easily peel off the skin, 5 minutes.
4. Roughly chop eggplantand roasted bellpepper. Add to a bowl.
5. Add tomato, onion, garlic and green pepper. Mix to combine.
6. Season with salt, lemon juice, pomegranate molasses, mint and extra virgin olive oil. Mix to combine. Adjust to taste.
7. When ready to plate, garnish with chopped parsley and finish with a healthy drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

Enjoy with warm bread.

Recipe #2: Oven Roasted Pumpkin with 2 Sauces

This recipe is a riff on your classic roast vegetables, focusing on the pumpkin (or butternut squash depending on availability), with a Middle Eastern secret ingredient.

In this recipe, we rely on the sweetness of the pumpkin as a base and elevate it with 2 special Greek Yogurt sauces: a herby one , and a spicy one.

To make this dish vegan, all you have to do is substitute the Greek Yogurt with a non-dairy option, or use coconut cream. (While this recipe was tested with Greek Yogurt, we would love your feedback on the vegan version using the hashtag #OLYFO).

Ingredients:

• 1 large pumpkin
• 6 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
• 50g fresh cilantro
• 2 garlic cloves
• 200g Greek Yogurt
• 1 tbsp chili sauce
• 1 tsp ground Sumac
• salt & pepper
• 3 tbsp pumpkin seeds

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C.
2. Wash the pumpkin and cut in half. Remove seeds, then cut into long wedges with the skin on, 2cm wide
3. Mix the pumpkin wedges with salt, pepper and ground Sumac.
4. Toss with 2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil, and lay on a baking tray lined with baking paper.
5. Roast for 20 to 30 minutes, or until golden and cooked through.
6. In the bowl of a food processor, or in a mortar and pestle, add garlic and cilantro leaves.
7. Season with a pinch of salt and process or grind to a paste. Set aside.
8. In a small bowl, add half the greek yogurt and swirl in cilantro paste.
9. Repeat with remaining greek yogurt and chili paste, in a seperate small bowl.
10. Once pumpkin is cooked, set aside to cool, lower oven temp and gently roast pumpkin seeds.
11. When ready to serve, lay pumpkin wedges on a large plate. Garnish with dollops of sauce and roasted pumpkin seeds.

Recipe #3: Lemon Basil Tarts

What better way to finish a meal than with a zingy, lemony, sunny tart in preperation for summer, featuring our very own Ifriqia Extra Virgin Olive Oil ?

In this recipe, we focused on speed and ease so we opted for store-bought tart shells, but feel free to make your own! We happened to share with you a recipe for Olive Oil Tart Dough on Pi Day (recipe on our Instagram).

While the basil can be optional, we urge you to give it a try for a Mojito-esque take on a classic lemon tart, ingredients and instructions for which are down below:

Ingredients:

• 1 pie crust, cooked (or 6 mini tarts)
• Juice and zest of 2 large lemons
• 3 eggs + 1 yolk
• 125g honey
• 15g cornstarch
• 4 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 50g basil leaves
• pinch of salt

Instructions:

1. Zest and juice lemons in 2 seperate bowls
2. Add lemon juice and 1 tbsp of honey to a medium sized saucepan. Bring to a boil
3. At the same time, whisk lemon zest with honey, cornstartch, eggs and egg yolk until homogenous
4. Once sufficiantly hot, temper egg mixture with the boiling lemon juice, in 2 to 3 additions, whisking thoroughly inbetween.
5. Once both mixtures combined, transfer to the saucepan, lower the heat and continuously stir until thickened
6. Transfer thickened cream to a bowl and emulsify extra virigin olive oil slowly.
7. Cover and chill for 30 minutes or until ready to serve.
8. When ready to serve, fill tart shell(s) with lemon basil curd.

This was our round up for this week! We hope this inspired you to get cooking, and we most importantly look forward to seeing the culinary marvels you produced, so tag us on Instagram and Facebook at #OLYFO and keep your eyes peeled for more recipes soon!