Fattoush Salad with Crispy Deep Fried & Quick Pickle Shallots

Middle-Eastern Inspired Fattoush Salad with Crispy Deep Fried & Quick Pickle Shallots

This salad is a magically delicious hybrid between a Mediterranean Panzanella and a Middle-Eastern Fattoush with crispy fried and quick pickled shallots and it is officially my salad of the summer.

For me, it’s the combination of the sumac coated and oven-roasted pita bread with the sweet citrus dressing of the quick pickle shallots that make for such an explosion of summery flavours.  I also love the fact that the pickle sauce becomes the dressing, giving you double the flavour for half the effort!

Shallots

I was sent the largest bag of Echalions (or Banana Shallots to you and me) from the wonderful team at UKShallots who I’m working with to develop this wonderful Middle Eastern inspired salad. I’ve always adored shallots for their sweet and subtler onion flavour and ever since I used them in my Upside Down Puff Pastry Caramalised Onion Tarts – which has now reached over 37 million views, I can’t seem the shake them!

This recipe feeds 4 people as a side salad or 2 hungry adults as a main course.

For the dressing / quick pickle

• 6 shallots – peeled, halved and thinly sliced
• 3 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• The juice of half a lemon
• 1 teaspoon fennel seeds
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon Dijon mustard

 For the crispy fried shallots

• 6 shallots – peeled, halved and thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon cornflour
• Roughly 75ml olive oil

the crispy sumac pitta

• 3 wholemeal pitta bread
• 1 teaspoon sumac
• 1 teaspoon Lebanese 7 Spice
• 1 pinch sea salt
• Roughly 3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 5 garlic cloves – unpeeled

For the salad

• 1 baby gem lettuce – chopped
• 4 or 5 vine tomatoes – chopped
• ½ cucumber – chopped (I used 4 of these gorgeous baby cucumbers)
• 5 radish – sliced
• A handful of fresh coriander – chopped
• A smaller handful of fresh mint – chopped
• 1 block of halloumi cheese – thickly sliced.

Start with the quick pickle dressing. 

Place the sliced shallots into an old and clean jam jar (they should take up 2/3^rds of the jar.) Top with the rest of the ingredients. Place the lid on and shake vigorously until everything is combined. Place in the fridge for 30 mins. (Will keep for 2 weeks.)

The Pitta

Pre-heat the oven to 180C (fan) and line a baking tray with parchment paper. Tear up the pitta bread into chunks, then add all the other ingredients and drizzle well with oil.  Toss with your hands, ensuring all the pitta are coated with oil and seasoning. Bake for 25 – 35 minutes or until the pitta are wonderfully crisp.  Set aside to cool.

The Crispy Onions

To make the crispy onions, place a heavy pan on the hob and pour in a 1cm layer of oil. Turn on the heat. Meanwhile, place the sliced shallots into a bowl and sprinkle over the cornflour.  Using your hands toss the onions together with the cornflour ensuring they are well coated. Carefully pour the shallots into the hot oil and shimmy around with a wooden spoon.  The shallots will take roughly 8 minutes to crisp up but keep an eye on them and give them the occasional shimmy as they can go from golden to burnt in seconds.  Drain well and set aside on some paper towels.

Time to build the salad.

Grill the halloumi under a hot grill for roughly 5 mins on each side.  They should be golden brown and slightly charred. Lay all the ingredients for the salad into a bowl, then take the quick pickle onions from the fridge and spoon them on top, ensuring you pour some of the pickling liquid over too for the dressing. Add the pitta too.  Toss it together xwell.

Sprinkle with the crispy shallots and serve.

For more salad recipes, check these out Dom in the Kitchen.

Eat and of course, enjoy!