Pitta with hummus, cumin-seasoned hard-boiled egg and harissa carrots

Name: Pitta with hummus, cumin-seasoned hard-boiled egg and harissa carrots
Prep time: 20 min
Total time: 30 min
Yield: 2 servings
Cuisine: Israeli and Mediterranean
Ingredients: 160 g Pita breads (2 × 80 g pittas, pareve); 180 g Plain ready-made hummus (90 g per pitta, kosher pareve); 110 g Eggs (2 medium eggs, weighed without shells); 160 g Carrots (2 small); 100 g Tomatoes, vine or round (1 small tomato, cut into 1 cm dice); 40 g Gherkins / small pickled cucumbers (2 small cucumbers pickled in brine or vinegar (hamutzim)); 20 g Tahini (raw sesame paste) (1 heaped tbsp 100% sesame tahini); 15 g Water (1 tbsp cold water, to loosen the tahini); 120 g Lemon (1 lemon, about 45 g juice: 20 g for the carrots, 10 g for the hummus, 10 g for the tahini); 3 g Garlic (1 small clove, finely grated); 10 g Harissa (1 heaped tsp; 5 g for gentle heat); 20 g Extra virgin olive oil (2 tbsp: 10 g for the carrots, 5 g in the hummus, 5 g drizzled over the eggs); 2 g Ground cumin (1 level tsp: 1 g on the eggs, 0.5 g in the hummus, 0.5 g in the carrots); 1 g Ground caraway (1/3 tsp, for the carrots); 1 g Sweet paprika (2 pinches: one over the eggs, one at the opening of the pittas); 8 g Flat-leaf parsley (about ten sprigs, washed, checked and dried; 2 tbsp once chopped); 3 g Fine salt (1/2 level tsp: 1 g for the carrots, 1 g on the eggs, 0.5 g for the tahini, 0.5 g for the tomato)

pareve light lunch · Israeli and Mediterranean · 1/5 · very easy · 30 min, including 20 hands-on

The lunchtime pitta of Israeli kiosks, with a Jewish Tunisian twist: hummus sharpened with lemon and cumin, hard-boiled egg coated in cumin salt, raw carrots with garlic, caraway and harissa, tomato, pickles and a drizzle of tahini.

Ingredients for two

160 g	Pita breads 2 × 80 g pittas, pareve
180 g	Plain ready-made hummus 90 g per pitta, kosher pareve
110 g	Eggs 2 medium eggs, weighed without shells
160 g	Carrots 2 small
100 g	Tomatoes, vine or round 1 small tomato, cut into 1 cm dice
40 g	Gherkins / small pickled cucumbers 2 small cucumbers pickled in brine or vinegar (hamutzim)
20 g	Tahini (raw sesame paste) 1 heaped tbsp 100% sesame tahini
15 g	Water 1 tbsp cold water, to loosen the tahini
120 g	Lemon 1 lemon, about 45 g juice: 20 g for the carrots, 10 g for the hummus, 10 g for the tahini
3 g	Garlic 1 small clove, finely grated
10 g	Harissa 1 heaped tsp; 5 g for gentle heat
20 g	Extra virgin olive oil 2 tbsp: 10 g for the carrots, 5 g in the hummus, 5 g drizzled over the eggs
2 g	Ground cumin 1 level tsp: 1 g on the eggs, 0.5 g in the hummus, 0.5 g in the carrots
1 g	Ground caraway 1/3 tsp, for the carrots
1 g	Sweet paprika 2 pinches: one over the eggs, one at the opening of the pittas
8 g	Flat-leaf parsley about ten sprigs, washed, checked and dried; 2 tbsp once chopped
3 g	Fine salt 1/2 level tsp: 1 g for the carrots, 1 g on the eggs, 0.5 g for the tahini, 0.5 g for the tomato

Method

Bring 1 litre water to the boil over a high heat in a small 16 cm saucepan. Lower the fridge-cold eggs in one by one with a spoon, reduce to medium and set a timer for 9 minutes at a gentle boil. Immediately plunge into a bowl of cold water and ice for 5 minutes, or hold under cold running water: cooking stops, the yolk stays bright yellow, just set and still soft in the middle, and the shell comes off easily.
Meanwhile, wash, check and dry the parsley, then chop the leaves and fine stems. Peel and finely grate the carrots. In a bowl, mix the grated garlic, harissa, caraway, 0.5 g cumin and 1 g salt with 15 g lemon juice and 10 g oil to make a smooth red dressing. Add the carrots, work together for 30 seconds and leave to soften for 5 minutes. Taste and add up to 5 g more lemon juice: the carrots should be lively and spicy, not sour. Add the parsley at the last moment.
In a small bowl, loosen the hummus with a fork, 10 g lemon juice, 5 g olive oil and 0.5 g cumin, until creamy and glossy and able to spread without tearing the bread. In another bowl, mix the tahini with 10 g lemon juice and 0.5 g salt; it will stiffen, which is normal. Gradually whisk in the 15 g cold water with a fork until smooth and flowing in a ribbon. Cut the tomato into 1 cm dice and season with 0.5 g salt; cut the pickles into 3 mm slices.
Peel the eggs under a trickle of water, dry and cut into 5 mm slices with a wet knife. Mix 1 g salt, 1 g cumin and a pinch of paprika in a saucer: this is the Tunisian cumin salt used for dipping hard-boiled eggs. Lay the slices flat, sprinkle with this mixture and drizzle with olive oil, 5 g in total.
Warm each pitta for 30 seconds per side in a very hot dry frying pan over a high heat, or directly over a gas flame: it should puff up, soften and smell of warm bread, without forming a crust. Immediately open along one-third of the edge.
Spread half the hummus inside each pocket, right to the bottom. Slide the seasoned egg slices against the hummus, then add about half the carrots, drained with a fork, the diced tomato and sliced pickles. Spoon over the tahini sauce, finish with a pinch of paprika at the opening and serve immediately, one pitta per person, with the remaining carrots in a bowl alongside.

Variants and their steps remain below the recipe.

Lighter version

How the taste changes:

The raw vegetables make the pitta juicier and crunchier, but less hummus makes the filling less dense and creamy. Cumin and harissa stand out more against this less mellow base, while the egg and tahini retain some creaminess.

Plain ready-made hummus : 120 g
Extra virgin olive oil : 10 g
Tomatoes, vine or round : 200 g
add Cucumbers 100 g (1 small cucumber, cut into 1 cm dice)

In step 2, use only 8 g oil in the carrots. In step 3, loosen the 120 g hummus with lemon and cumin, without oil; dice the cucumber with the tomato and season together with a pinch of salt. In step 4, drizzle just 2 g oil over the eggs. In step 6, use 60 g hummus per pitta and the tomato and cucumber salad instead of tomato alone.

A third less hummus, half the oil and more juicy vegetables: cumin salt, harissa and tahini still carry the flavour.

On your plate

Recipe

760 kcal · protein 24 g · carbs 60 g · fat 44 g

Quantities per person

80 g Pita breads
90 g Plain ready-made hummus
55 g Eggs
80 g Carrots
50 g Tomatoes, vine or round
20 g Gherkins / small pickled cucumbers
10 g Tahini (raw sesame paste)
7.5 g Water
60 g Lemon
1.5 g Garlic
5 g Harissa
10 g Extra virgin olive oil
1 g Ground cumin
0.5 g Ground caraway
0.5 g Sweet paprika
4 g Flat-leaf parsley
1.5 g Fine salt

Cooking tips

To take away, complete steps 1–3 in the morning or the night before and store each element in its own container: drained carrots, chopped parsley separately, diced but unsalted tomato, pickles, whole peeled eggs, seasoned hummus and tahini sauce. Refrigerate, then carry in an insulated bag. Warm the pitta in a frying pan in the morning and wrap while still warm in a clean tea towel, never refrigerating it: it stays soft until lunch without a microwave. At lunchtime, mix the parsley into the carrots, salt the tomato, slice and season the eggs, then fill the pitta in two minutes; eat within 24 hours. If liked, replace the tahini with 1 tbsp amba. At the weekend, homemade hummus, see its recipe with chickpeas, tahini, lemon and garlic, makes an excellent substitute for shop-bought: reserve 180 g for this pitta.

Equipment : small 16 cm saucepan, bowl of iced water, grater, 3 bowls and a saucer, chopping board and knife, frying pan or gas flame, clean tea towel, for taking away

The lunchtime pitta of Israeli cafés and kiosks, with hummus, egg, salad, pickles and tahini; Tunisian-style hard-boiled egg with salt and cumin, and carrots with garlic, caraway and harissa.

Pitta with hummus, cumin-seasoned hard-boiled egg and harissa carrots

Method

Timer

On your plate

Recipe

Cooking tips

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