Matzah fattoush

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Fattoush is a Middle Eastern salad from Lebanon, Syria and Palestine that uses day-old pita bread as a salad base. Here I substitute crisp matzah, cut into bite-size pieces, making it ideal for Passover.

Matzah fattoush. (Kathy Gunst/Here & Now)

The matzah pieces are tossed with olive oil, lemon juice, and pomegranate molasses (or honey and pomegranate juice) until slightly softened. The matzah is then tossed with cubes of cucumbers and tomatoes, fresh dill, mint, parsley and, finally, sprinkled with pomegranate seeds if you like. It’s a beautiful spring salad full of color and crunch.

Serve within an hour or two for the best texture. The longer it sits, the less crunch the matzah will provide.

Serves 4 to 6.

Ingredients

  • 4 sheets of matzah, broken into bite-sized pieces
  • About ⅓ cup olive oil
  • 3 tablespoons pomegranate molasses or 2 tablespoons honey mixed with 1 tablespoon pomegranate juice
  • About 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon sweet paprika, optional
  • 1 ½ cups English or Persian cucumbers, peeled or unpeeled, and cut into small pieces
  • ½ cup cherry tomatoes, halved
  • ¼ cup fresh parsley, coarsely chopped with stems
  • 3 tablespoons fresh mint coarsely chopped
  • 3 tablespoons fresh dill, coarsely chopped with stems
  • 1 scallion, thinly sliced
  • ½ cup pomegranate seeds, optional
  • Fresh mint leaves for garnish

Instructions

  1. Place the matzah in a large bowl and gently toss with the ⅓ cup olive oil, pomegranate molasses, lemon juice, salt, pepper and paprika. Let sit for 5 minutes.
  2. Add the cucumbers, tomatoes, parsley, mint, dill, and scallion and gently toss everything together. Season to taste. If the salad seems dry, add additional olive oil and lemon juice as needed. The salad should not be swimming in oil and lemon, but lightly coated. Scatter the pomegranate seeds on top and garnish with fresh mint leaves.
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