Ramblings of a retiree in France
A crowd coming round on a Monday night? I raided the cupboards and fridge and had all the ingredients for this recipe to hand which I followed to the letter. It was very tasty – nothing left over – but I thought it could be improved upon. So the second time I made it I did improve it, but also learnt a few important lessons!
1. Remove the stones from the olives with a pitter or a sharp knife. Put in a food processor with the capers, anchovies, garlic and thyme, and whizz to a rough puree. Squeeze in the lemon juice and, with the motor still running, add the oil.
2. Alternatively, pound the garlic, anchovies, capers and thyme together in a pestle and mortar until smooth, followed by the olives, leaving these slightly more chunky, then gradually add the oil and lemon juice, pounding between pours.
3. Taste, and add pepper and more lemon juice if necessary.
1. Put all the falafel ingredients into a food processor, blend to a thick paste and put to one side.
2. Cook the rice or mujadara and leave to cool.
3. With a sharp knife, cut the flat bread to the shape of your cake tin.
4. Cut the aubergine (egg plant) and courgette (zucchini) into to 1cm thick slices and griddle on both sides of each slice until they’re cooked through. I just brush them with olive oil on both sides.
5. Place the flatbread in the base of the cake tin.
6. Carefully and creatively layer each ingredient to build the cake (it’s your cake, add what you want, when you want or see video in link below for guidance! Make sure the top layer is the falafel mixture). I started as per the video with hummus dribbled with chilli jam as per photo above, then added layers of vegetables covered with tapenade and moutabal with my mudjara rice layer in-between.
7. Bake the cake at 180ºC/160ºC fan/gas mark 4 (350ºF/320ºF fan) for 30 minutes until golden on top. Take the cake out of the oven and leave for 10 minutes or so before decorating with a further layer of hummus and some more griddled vegetables (I found that this step isn’t strictly necessary) before slicing and serving.
8. Serve with chopped coriander (cilantro) more chilli jam or whatever else you’d like.
1. Feel free to replace any of the home-made components with shop bought ones or indeed replace anything you don’t like with something you do.
2. The first time I made this in a square rather than round tin and it kept its shape so much better.
3. Remember to press all the layers together tightly before adding the falafel layer. The second time I made it I left the mixture as falafel balls. It loooked smarter, didn’t require topping with further hummus but it was a big mistake as the falafel top layer helps the cake keep its shape and makes it easier to cut.
4. As it’s a mezze cake, I generally serve it with some refreshing tabouleh which is heavy on the parsley and mint.
5. The following day, the cold left overs make a delicious wrap.
Miam!! I would gobble this up! I love this type of food. We haven’t found a place that serves it here yet, so I may have to purchase what I can find and make it myself! This is getting printed out and saved!
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Let me know how you get on.
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👍🏼
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Ooooooh – I say that looks terrific!
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Easy to do and very tasty
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Beautiful and tasty 😘
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Oh my…you are smart.Looks good enough to eat.
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It was!
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This looks so impressive, wow! It must be a taste explosion!
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It’s delish
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Wow!
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delicious and tasted very good:

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Good to know
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This is something interesting
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Sheree!!!! You’re truly amazing! Wow, would love to be your special guest haha! 😜💕🌷💕🌷😛
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I do know my popularity is just cupboard love.
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Aww you’re inherently so loving, thoughtful, kind, and beautiful! 🥰…… so many reasons you’re richly and sweetly loved!!! ❤️💕❤️💕❤️💕
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Well, that might be a large overstatement!
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I don’t think so …. I feel your lovely heart! ❤️
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Thank you
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Do you think you could make this ahead and then bake it the following day? Thanks!
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I don’t see why not.
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