Week 65:
RECIPE OF THE WEEK FROM THE STAFF AT HIGHFIELD HALL & GARDENS, KAY BENAROCH!
This delicious summer recipe is adapted from “Spice” by Ana Sortun. These flatbreads would be perfect to serve as an appetizer or you could enjoy them as a meal with a summer salad!
Chicken Peach Lamejun
Adapted from “Spice” by Ana Sortun
Ingredients
- 3 peaches, halved and pits removed – or canned peaches, drained and patted dry (OR substitute jarred roasted red pepper slices)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 teaspoons Aleppo pepper or 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
- Salt to taste
- 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, trimmed and cut into 2-inch chunks (or 1 lb. ground chicken)
- 1 small onion, coarsely chopped
- 3 scallions, trimmed and coarsely chopped
- 1 red bell pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped
- 1 1/2 teaspoons sumac
- 3/4 teaspoon za’atar
- 1 teaspoon salt, more to taste
- 1 egg white
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup finely ground pistachio nuts (or substitute toasted pinenuts or chopped skinned almonds)
- 12 thin slices of provolone or swiss cheese
- 3 large rectangles of lavash, about 18 inches long or 6 large flour tortillas
- Garnish: Sumac, za’atar, pistachios
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees farenheit.
- If using fresh peaches: Drizzle olive oil onto a heavy baking sheet and place the peaches on the sheet cut side down. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Roast the peaches in the oven for 12 minutes or until they are just soft and tender when poked with a knife. Take them out and set aside.
- While the peaches are cooking, grind the chicken to a paste in a food processor until it comes together in a ball and becomes smooth and thick, about 1 minute. Make sure that the chicken gets smooth enough or it will break up when it cooks.
- Add the onion, scallions, red pepper, sumac, za’atar, salt, and egg white to the chicken, and pulse until thoroughly mixed into a single paste. Place chicken mixture in a small mixing bowl and stir in the cream and pistachios.
- Cut lavash into 3 equal pieces, so you have 5×6 or 5×7 inch rectangles. Top each piece of lavash or pita with a layer of sliced cheese.
- Spread chicken mixture onto lavash as thinly as possible and as close to each corner as possible so the mixture coats the bread in an even layer. If the mixture sticks to the spatula, dip the spatula into a little water or olive oil and continue spreading.
- Place on a heavy baking sheet or pizza stone and bake 12 to 15 minutes, until crisp and chicken is cooked through. While still hot, sprinkle with additional sumac and za'atar.
- Serve warm with a dollop of yogurt, and strips of roasted peaches or red pepper on each.
Notes
Don’t spend too much time cutting the vegetables with precision – it’s all getting ground into a paste anyway.
COOKS NOTE: if Sumac is unavailable use dried or fresh lemon zest or lemon pepper; za’atar mixture can be purchased from Whole foods, Penzey’s spices (on-line), or The Spice and Tea Exchange of Mashpee.)