“Our holidays are always flavoured with figs – late season, still warm from the summer sun,” explains Itamar Srulovich, one half of Honey & Co, which he co-runs with his wife, Sarit Packer. “We remember tearing ourselves from work after an exhausting summer to head to the Balearic Islands. We were greeted in a hotel car park by a huge fig tree. We parked our little rental car in its shade and took our first bite of the summer – it was then and there that our holiday started.
“We all have our little milestones in the year, those recurring events that make us pause and think,” he adds. “For us it’s always autumn, and it is always flavoured with figs. It is when the Jewish year starts; it is when the Day of Atonement falls; it is when we got married. All those sweet and serious life moments are connected by the honeyed sweetness, the resiny undertone, the giving flesh and the crunch of seeds in a fig.”
Fig and feta pide
Equipment
- Large mixing bowl
- Small dish
- Small bowl
Ingredients
For the dough
- 300 g flour
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 1 tbsp nigella seeds
- a pinch of cayenne pepper
- 15 g dried active yeast
- 1 tsp honey
- 150 g yogurt
For the filling
- 100 g feta
- 50 g yogurt
- 1/2 tsp dried oregano
- 1/2 tsp sumac (you could substitute with zest of 1 lemon)
For the toppings
- 1 green chilli
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 8 figs
- 1 small bag of washed baby spinach
- salt
- freshly ground black pepper
- a few sprigs of fresh thyme or a pinch of dried oregano
Method
- Place the flour, sugar, salt, black pepper, nigella seeds and cayenne pepper in a large mixing bowl. Dissolve the yeast in 100ml of water and stir in the honey, then add this, along with the yogurt, to the dry ingredients. Knead together to form a nice, supple dough (you can use a mixer with a dough hook if you wish, but it is really easy to mix by hand). Cover the bowl with a cloth or cling film, set in a warm place and allow the dough to double in size. It will take about one hour in a warm room, slightly longer if it’s cold.
- Make the filling by crumbling the feta into a small bowl and mixing with the yogurt, oregano and sumac to create a paste.
- For the topping, slice the green chilli into rounds, place in a small dish and cover with the olive oil. Cut the figs into four to five slices.
- Once the dough has proved, divide it into six evenly-sized lumps. Roughly stretch each piece into an oval boat-shape measuring around 20cm long and 8cm wide. Put a tablespoon of the feta filling on each, spreading it over the centre. Add a handful of baby spinach, then slices of fig. Top with the chilli slices and the oil, using it all up. Season with salt and pepper, and sprinkle with some leaves from the sprigs of thyme or dried oregano.
- Pinch the sides of the dough up around the edges, then pinch each end of the oval into a point to create a pide boat. Leave to prove again and, while you are waiting, heat your oven to 220°C/200°C fan/425°F/ gas mark 7. By the time the oven is up to temperature, the boats will be ready to pop in. Bake for 10–12 minutes until beautifully golden. Serve warm.
Nutrition
Honey & Co. At Home: Middle-Eastern Recipes From Our Kitchen by Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich, photography by Patricia Niven, is published by Pavilion Books.
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