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    Sami Tamimi’s pistachio harisa

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    *mandatory

    Sami Tamimi’s pistachio harisa

    • Preparation time: 10 minutes + resting and cooling
    • Cooking time: 35 minutes to 40 minutes

    Serves: 12 - 14

    Ingredients

    75g unsalted butter, at room temperature, plus extra for greasing
    150g pistachio kernels
    100g caster sugar
    100ml sunflower oil
    160g Greek-style yogurt
    2 British Blacktail Free Range Medium Eggs
    350g fine semolina
    50g desiccated coconut
    ¾ tsp baking powder
    ¾ tsp flaked sea salt
    2 unwaxed lemons, zest finely grated to make 1 tbsp

    For the sugar syrup

    400g caster sugar
    2 tbsp lemon juice
    1½ tbsp rose water  

    Method

    1 Preheat the oven to 180°C, gas mark 4. Grease a 20x30cm baking tin liberally with butter and set aside. Put 100g pistachios into the bowl of a food processor and blitz for 1 minute, until very fine. Transfer to a separate bowl and set aside.

    2 Place the remaining 50g of pistachios in the same food processor (no need to clean it) and pulse-blitz a few times: you just want these pistachios to be coarsely chopped. Transfer to a separate bowl and set aside.

    3 To make the sugar syrup, put 245ml of water and the sugar into a small saucepan and place on a medium-high heat. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to medium and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the lemon juice and rose water and remove from the heat. Set aside to cool.

    4 Put the sugar, butter, oil and yogurt into the bowl of a free-standing mixer and whisk on a high speed for about 3 minutes, until well combined and smooth. Reduce the speed to medium and add the eggs, one at a time. Whisk for another minute.

    5 Add the semolina, coconut, baking powder, flaked sea salt and lemon zest to the finely-ground pistachios and mix to combine. Add the pistachio mixture to the wet mixture and whisk until just combined, you don’t want to overwork it, then tip the batter into the prepared baking dish. Even out with a spatula and sprinkle the coarsely chopped pistachios on top. Using your fingers, gently press the pistachios into the batter, without completely submerging them. Set aside for 10 minutes, then bake in the middle of the oven for 15 minutes, until the cake is almost set and the sides have taken on some colour.

    6 Remove from the oven and, using a small sharp knife, make a diagonal cross-hatch pattern across the top of the batter. Space the lines about 5cm apart, doing five lines one way and five lines the other. Return to the oven for a final 10 minutes, until the surface is golden brown and a knife inserted into the centre comes out clean. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool for 10 minutes, then evenly pour the cooled sugar syrup over the cake. Set aside for an hour, until completely cool. When serving, follow the indentations to cut out individual pieces.  

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    Adapted from Falastin by Sami Tamimi and Tara Wigley (Ebury)

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