Mezze Sharing Plate

Ingredients

• mini sweet peppers

• 90g light soft cream cheese (I use Philadelphia)

• Pitta breads

• Green and Kalamata olives

• 2 pots of hummus (shop-bought is fine)

• 2 pickled cucumbers, sliced

• 4 fresh figs, quartered

• Handful of red grapes

• For the tabbouleh

• 4 cherry tomatoes, diced

• 2 spring onions, finely chopped

• ¼ cucumber, diced

• Small bunch of fresh parsley,

• finely chopped

• 6-8 fresh mint leaves, finely chopped

• 2 tbsp lime or lemon juice

• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

• 100g medium-ground bulgur wheat

• 2 tsp olive oil

• Pinch of salt

Method

1. First, prepare the fresh ingredients for the sharing plate. Cut the tops off the mini peppers and use a teaspoon to push the cream cheese into the cavities. Slice the pitta breads.

2. For the tabbouleh, place the cherry tomatoes, spring onions, cucumber and herbs in a bowl, then stir through the lime juice and extra virgin olive oil.

3. Place the bulgur wheat in a small saucepan with 100ml of water. Add the oil and salt. Bring to a simmer, then cover and cook over a low heat until tender (about 10 minutes). Let the bulgur stand (still covered) for a further 10 minutes. Fluff with a fork and leave to cool.

4. Once cooled, add enough bulgur wheat to the tabbouleh mixture so that it’s present but doesn’t become the main ingredient. The idea is have a little bulgur with the salad, rather than a salad with the bulgur!

5. Place all the different components for the mezze on a large serving plate along with a big bowl of the tabbouleh. Arrange them in an appealing way and dive in!