Cardamom and Tea

spiced walnut pie (made with date molasses)

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This isn’t quite pecan pie, but it certainly fits the bill. And while pecan pie will always be a classic, there are a few good reasons to try this spiced walnut pie this holiday season, so I’ll just go ahead and start listing.

things I love about this spiced walnut pie

1) This recipe doesn’t use any corn syrup.

While I’m not particularly concerned about the health implications of cooking with corn syrup, I just don’t think it tastes all that delicious, and date molasses is such a lovely alternative. It adds the same syrupy sweetness and moisture, but with a distinctively rich date flavor.

2) No one will be expecting walnuts in place of pecans, and it’s a refreshing change of pace.

Pecans are wonderful, but they’re a bit richer and sweeter than walnuts, and while I’m definitely not going to insist you make frozen yogurt (ok maybe this one) or fruit salad for Thanksgiving dessert, it is nice to lighten things up like two percent, so you can actually eat a whole slice of pie with a scoop of ice cream at the end of an epic meal.

3) Walnut pie embraces messiness.

Walnuts are bumpy and weird looking, and pecans are perfect and uniform. So while pecan pie looks at its best with pecans arranged in perfect concentric circles on the surface, this pie looks at its best when the filling is simply poured and smoothed out. When you’re entertaining around the holidays, it’s nice to have one or two super forgiving recipes that look beautiful without much labor.

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spiced walnut pie (made with date molasses)

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  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 3 1/2 hours
  • Yield: 8 slices

Ingredients

  • 1 single unbaked pie crust (like a half recipe of this one)
  • 71g (5 tablespoons) unsalted butter
  • 240g (1 1/4 cup) brown sugar
  • 175g (1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon) date molasses or date syrup*
  • 3.5g (1/2 teaspoon) salt
  • 3 large eggs (142g)
  • 340g (about 3 1/2 cups) whole walnuts
  • 1.5g (3/4 teaspoon) cardamom
  • 2g (1 teaspoon) cinnamon
  • 1g (1/2 teaspoon) allspice
  • 4.5g (1 teaspoon) lemon juice or apple cider vinegar
  • 2.5g (1/2 teaspoon) vanilla
  • optional: vanilla ice cream and more date molasses, for serving

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 350° F (180° C) convection.**
  2. On a floured surface, roll the dough out to about 1/8-inch thick. Keep dusting with flour while you work to make sure it doesn’t stick. Gently roll the dough around your rolling pin (sort of like roller window shades) to transfer it to the pie pan, and then carefully unroll it onto the pie pan.
  3. Crimp the edges however you’d like, and place the pan in the fridge while you work on the filling. The pie shell needs to be chilled solid before you fill and bake it.
  4. Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once it melts, add the brown sugar, date molasses, and salt, and whisk constantly over medium heat for about 2 minutes, just until it smooths out and becomes a little less viscous (it won’t quite come to a simmer, but it should get hot).
  5. Temper the eggs: In a medium mixing bowl, whisk the eggs until they’re well-combined. Place the egg bowl over a wet paper towel so it doesn’t skid. Take the hot butter-sugar mixture, and hold it above the eggs. Whisk vigorously, and then start to slowly drizzle in the hot butter-sugar while you continue whisking constantly.
  6. Once the two mixtures are completely combined, add the walnuts, cardamom, cinnamon, allspice, lemon juice, and vanilla, and mix together until combined evenly.
  7. Pour into the chilled pie crust, smooth out as much as possible, and bake for about 50 minutes to 1 hour. During the last 15 minutes of baking, you may need to tent the pie with aluminum foil to keep the crust from burning, and the walnuts from over-caramelizing (keep an eye on it to make sure this isn’t happening earlier, and tent earlier if necessary). Different pans cook at different rates, so keep an eye on it while it bakes. You know it’s done when the center is no longer wobbly (it’s pretty forgiving and hard to overcook).
  8. Let the pie cool to room temperature for at least 2 hours before serving. As you serve slices at the table, top each with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and more date molasses (these toppings are totally optional, and the pie is delicious on its own).

Notes

* Date syrup and date molasses are two names for the same thing. It’s is easy to find in Middle Eastern markets, but it’s also sometimes available in US supermarkets with good international aisles (e.g., if you’re in the Midwest, look for a Ziyad display). If you don’t have access to date syrup or date molasses, you can make this recipe with dark corn syrup, but it will taste different, and the cook time may vary a little. You can also make your own date syrup, but it’s an involved process (and you must make sure you strain it and boil it to the right consistency, to ensure the recipe turns out right).

** If you’re not using a convection oven, you may need to slightly increase the temperature and/or cook it a little longer.

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autumn fatteh

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This fatteh has got Thanksgiving spirit out the wazoo, with heaps of caramelized brussels sprouts, roasted sweet potatoes, and even a little bit of celery. It’s also topped with more classic ingredients, like chickpeas, yogurt tahini sauce, pomegranate seeds, pine nuts, and parsley.

It’s one of my favorites, because it can go right from polished vegetarian centerpiece to leftover magnet, which is just the kind of kitchen miracle everyone could use this time of year. So I hope you get a chance to make it in one form or another. Whether or not you include it in your official Thanksgiving dinner, definitely make sure you buy some pita bread, because fatteh is all about leftovers. Its name refers to broken up pieces of leftover bread, which get toasted, covered in sauce and/or stock, and topped with a variety of delicious ingredients (you can adapt it to include whatever you’ve got around).

If you’re interested in coming up with your own leftover adaptation, check out these fabulous recipes to learn more about what makes fatteh itself. There are a ton of different kinds and variations (please do try them all!), and it’s always fun to get creative, but they all have a few important things in common, e.g., stale or crisped pita, some sort of sauce (usually tahini-yogurt), a few ingredients that tend to show up, etc.:

Tony Tahhan’s spiced beef and chickpea fatteh
Yumna Jawad’s Lebanese chicken fatteh
Eyad Houssami’s fatteh with cumin chickpeas and tahini yogurt
Amira’s Pantry’s fattet al-makdous (stuffed eggplant fatteh)

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autumn fatteh

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  • Prep Time: 20 minutes
  • Total Time: 45 minutes
  • Yield: 4 to 6 servings

Ingredients

for the tahini yogurt sauce:

  • 1 small clove garlic
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground coriander seeds
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/4 cup tahini
  • 1/2 cup Greek yogurt *
  • 3 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt, or to taste
  • 2 to 3 tablespoons water

for the fatteh:

  • 3 medium pitas (220 grams)
  • Olive oil
  • Salt, to taste
  • 1 medium sweet potato, 1/2-inch diced (180 grams)
  • About 18 small brussels sprouts, halved (180 grams)
  • 1 small stalk celery, sliced 1/4 inch (50 grams)
  • 3/4 cup cooked chickpeas (125 grams)
  • tahini yogurt sauce (above)
  • 2 tablespoons lightly toasted pine nuts
  • 3 tablespoons pomegranate seeds (plus more on the side, optionally)
  • 1 tablespoon chopped parsley (plus more on the side)

Instructions

  1. Make the tahini yogurt sauce: Place the garlic in a blender or food processor and finely mince it (or mince and whisk by hand).
  2. Add the coriander, cumin, tahini, yogurt, lemon juice, salt, and 1 tablespoon of the water, and blend until emulsified. Gradually add 1 or 2 more tablespoons of water, and blend until it thins out into a pourable consistency. It may thicken slightly as it sits, so feel free to thin it further before serving.
  3. Make the fatteh: Preheat the oven to 350° F convection.**
  4. Cut the pita into large bite-sized triangles, and coat evenly in about 1 1/2 tablespoons of olive oil. Spread evenly on a sheet pan, salt to taste, and bake until golden brown (about 10 to 14 minutes, depending on the thickness of the pita). Spread the baked pita chips out onto a serving platter.
  5. Preheat the oven’s broiler (or use the hottest possible setting).
  6. Coat the sweet potato, brussels sprouts, and celery in about 1 tablespoon of olive oil. Spread evenly on a sheet pan (sprouts should be cut-side-up), salt to taste, and bake for about 12 minutes.** The sweet potatoes must be soft on the inside and crispy on the outside. The celery should retain some bite, and won’t take on much color. The brussels sprouts should retain some bite and should be charred on the outside.
  7. Top the pita chips with a couple spoonfuls of the tahini yogurt sauce. Top with the sweet potatoes, brussels sprouts, celery, and chickpeas, and add a couple more spoonfuls of the sauce. Garnish with the pine nuts, pomegranate seeds, and parsley, and serve with extra pomegranate seeds, parsley, and sauce on the side.

Notes

* If you want to make this recipe vegan, simply make a tahini sauce instead, but make sure you thin it out enough, because this dish needs a very light sauce.

** If you don’t have convection, no worries—it just might take a little longer for them to toast, and you might need to rotate the pan once halfway through to make sure they’re browning evenly.** Broilers vary a ton, so keep a close eye on it to make sure nothing’s burning. If it looks like they’re caramelizing before they have a chance to cook through, reduce the temperature and/or move them away from the heat source.

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