This eggplant fatteh has roasted eggplants in a tangy tomato pomegranate sauce, with garlic tahini yogurt, crispy pita chips and toasted nuts. So good!
What is fatteh?
Fatteh is a Middle Eastern dish that’s very popular in the Levantine, usually consisting of some form of bread covered with layers of other ingredients. It originated as a way to use up stale bread, and there are so many different iterations! Vegetarian with all sorts of vegetables, and non vegetarian, with chicken or spiced meat. This one here is a classic. Roasted eggplant cubes with a garlic yogurt sauce. SO good!
Why you should make this:
Unlike most recipes, this one oven roasts the eggplant and bakes the pita bread for a much easier, healthier, and fuss free way to prep them.
The pomegranate molasses tomato sauce infused the roasted eggplant with so much flavor! So much better than just plain roasted cubes of eggplant. I adapted the idea from this recipe.
It’s really simple to make but the layers on layers of flavor are unbelievable. So good!
You can prepare the different components in advance, and I’ll detail how to later on in this post.
The recipe is adaptable. Feel free to sub your favorite vegetable in place of the eggplant. Chickpeas would be amazing! You can omit the nuts, leave out the tahini in the yogurt sauce, adapt this however suits you.
Ingredients you need to make eggplant fatteh:
Eggplants: plus olive oil and salt for roasting the eggplant cubes in the oven.
Pita bread: for making the pita croutons, the recipe makes quite a few, because I like to offer more for topping up the fatteh while portioning out.
For the yogurt sauce: Yogurt, garlic cloves, tahini, lemon juice, and salt. The ingredients you need for a garlic yogurt sauce that’s a little tangy from the lemon and nutty from the tahini. Taste and adjust!
For the tomato sauce: the roasted eggplant cubes get added to a very simple sauce made with tomato paste, olive oil, garlic cloves, pomegranate molasses, water and salt to season.
Pomegranate molasses is a wonderful sticky and tangy molasses made with pomegranate, commonly found in Middle Eastern supermarkets and online. You can substitute this with pomegranate juice or balsamic vinegar.
To garnish: A bunch of chopped parsley, toasted pine nuts or slivered almonds and pomegranate seeds add so much color and flavor to top the dish off.
To toast the nuts:
Just toast the nuts in a little olive oil over medium heat in a skillet until golden brown.
Once cooked, immediately remove from the pan onto a paper towel lined plate to absorb some of the oil and to prevent the nuts from overcooking in the pan.
How to make eggplant fatteh:
- Start off by prepping the things that need to go in the oven. Heat the oven, and scatter eggplant cubes evenly on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil and salt, and toss to coat evenly.
2. Roast for about 25 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through, tossing midway through. Set aside.
Most recipes will ask for fried eggplant, but I think it’s easier to oven roast it, not to mention less oily, healthier and tastier!
3. Reduce the oven temperature, and add the pita bread squares or diamonds to another pan in an even layer. Drizzle with oil, and bake until deep golden brown. Set aside.
4. Make the yogurt sauce by whisking together all the ingredients and place in fridge to let the flavors meld while you make the rest of the fatteh.
5. Make the tomato sauce by sautéing a couple minced garlic cloves in olive oil, adding tomato paste, water, pomegranate molasses and salt. Add the eggplant cubes back in and stir to coat, then remove from heat and cool.
6. Assemble the whole thing. Traditionally, pita bread goes at the very bottom of the fatteh to soak in all the liquid. I personally cannot stand soggy bread, so I flip the whole process and add the crispy pita to the top, and RIGHT before serving. I highly prefer it my way but let me know what you think if you try this!
How to assemble fatteh in advance:
You can basically make all the separate parts in advance, but avoid assembling until right before serving.
Roasted eggplant cubes: Roasted eggplant can be refrigerated for 3-5 days, and frozen for up to six months. It’s a great thing to discover in your freezer!
Toasted pita bread: Toasted pita bread will stay crispy at room temperature for up to one week.
The yogurt sauce: You can prepare the garlic yogurt sauce 1-2 days in advance, and keep in an airtight container in the fridge.
If you liked this recipe, you might like:
Eggplant Fatteh
Ingredients
For the eggplants
- 2 medium eggplants, peeled in strips and cut into 1.5 inch cubes
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 1/2 tsp salt
For the pita chips:
- 4 loaves pita bread
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
For the yogurt sauce:
- 1 1/2 cups yogurt 2 yogurt containers 6 oz each (170g)
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed or minced
- 1/2 lemon juiced
- 2 tablespoon tahini
- pinch salt
For the tomato sauce:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed or minced
- 2 tablespoon tomato paste
- 2 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
- 1/2 cup water
- pinch salt
To garnish:
- big handful, chopped parsley
- 1/4 cup toasted pine nuts or almond slivers
- handful pomegranate seeds, optional but recommended
Instructions
For the eggplant:
- Preheat oven to 425 F(220C).
- Place the eggplant cubes in a single layer on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Drizzle with the olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Toss to coat evenly. Place in the hot oven and cook for 10 minutes, then flip cubes over and cook for a further 15 minutes or until cooked through and golden brown, set aside.
For the pita bread:
- Reduce oven temperature to 375 F (190C)
- Cut the pita bread into cubes, and sprinkle in a single layer on a parchment paper lined baking sheet. Drizzle evenly with olive oil and toss to coat. Cook in the oven for around 10-12 minutes, shaking pan halfway through, until bread is crispy and golden brown.
For the yogurt sauce:
- Mix together all the ingredients for the yogurt sauce, taste and adjust seasoning. Store in the fridge until ready to assemble.
For the tomato sauce:
- In a saucepan over medium heat, add the olive oil. once hot, add the crushed garlic and saute for a minute. Add the tomato paste, and stir for around 30 seconds, then add the water and pomegranate molasses and salt. Stir to combine, then add the roasted eggplant cubes. Simmer for a minute, then remove from heat. Cool completely before assembling.
For assembling:
- Layer the base of a serving dish with the eggplant tomato mixture. Top with the yogurt sauce, then as much pita bread as you want. Garnish with parsley, toasted nuts, and pomegranate seeds. It's best to assemble right before serving, but store any leftovers in the fridge.
Maya says
I never thought to put the bread on top! What a great tip. Trying this tonight for iftar. Love the idea of using pomegranate molasses – reminds me a lot of a dish from Iraq called tepsi batanjan.
Farah Abumaizar says
Yum I love Iraqi food! Awesome Maya let me know what you think- I love
this with crispy bread!
Cat Crothers says
You’ve done it right! No frying, just too much oil for sure. I like a double batch of this and have left overs for a few days. Great eats during summer, when I rather eat lightly. So simple too and so much flavor. Thank you!
Farah Abumaizar says
Thanks Cat! I’m so happy you enjoy the recipe, it’s definitely one of our faves too!
Patricia says
Hello Farah, Pls clarify….the ingred list reflects eggplant “peeled”, although image looks like eggplant is shown with peel on. Is the eggplant peel edible, as well as desirable, or is it bitter?
This recipe looks amazingly delicious and I have all the ingredients, even homemade pom molasses; excited to make it…..Thank You!
Farah Abumaizar says
Hi Patricia! So what I did was peel the eggplant in alternating strips, so it had half the peel on lol. It’s totally edible and yummy! You can peel fully if you prefer- I really hope you love the recipe as much as I did!