Sabich with Cucumber, Tomato, and Pickled Hot Peppers

The first time I ever had sabich was in Montreal, and it was a stand-out for me. Like, why am I always eating falafel? Come on, eggplant as the star with the egg? Everyone, this is some low-key hitter. Maybe people don’t want us to know and love the sabich? But we love the sabich and we will tell everyone and we will scream for sabich. We need sabich. It could easily be one of the greats in the world. Thank you, eggplant, you are very kind. — Soups, Salads, Sandwiches. Matty Matheson, Appetite by Random House

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SABICH with CUCUMBER, TOMATO, and PICKLED HOT PEPPERS

Course Main Course

Prep Time 2

Servings 5 servings

Author Matty Matheson, author of Soups, Salads, Sandwiches

Ingredients

2 cups cherry tomatoes quartered
Kosher salt
¼ cup plus 3 tablespoons olive oil
1 pound Italian eggplant about 2, cut in ½-inch cubes
2 cups diced cucumber
5 hard-boiled eggs sliced
¼ cup pickled banana peppers roughly chopped
3 cups thinly shredded green cabbage
¼ cup parsley roughly chopped
2 tablespoons roughly chopped mint
Juice of 1 lemon plus more as needed
2 tablespoons your favorite hot sauce plus more as needed
5 pitas
½ red onion thinly sliced

TAHINI DRESSING

8 garlic cloves peeled
¾ cup lemon juice
1½ cups tahini
1 tablespoon ground cumin
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon kosher salt

Instructions

In a medium bowl, mix together the cherry tomatoes and 1 tablespoon of salt. Transfer to a fine-mesh strainer and let it macerate for 1 hour, allowing any excess liquid to drain off.
Line a plate with paper towels. Heat a medium skillet over medium heat and add ¼ cup of the olive oil. Test the oil with a piece of eggplant; if it sizzles right away, your oil is up to temperature. Add all the eggplant and sear on each side until the eggplant is golden brown, 6 to 7 minutes. Transfer to the paper towel– lined plate to drain and cool. Reserve the skillet for toasting the pita.
While the eggplant is cooling, let’s make the tahini dressing. In a food processor, combine the garlic and lemon juice. Blend until the garlic is completely broken down, 1 minute.
Strain the mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into a medium bowl, discarding the pulp. Combine the garlic and lemon juice mixture with the tahini, cumin, olive oil, and salt.
Transfer to an airtight container and refrigerate for up to 1 week.
Once the eggplant is cool, place them in a large bowl. Rinse and pat the tomato dry to remove all moisture and salt. Add the salted tomato, cucumber, hard- boiled eggs, banana peppers, cabbage, parsley, mint, lemon juice, ¼ cup of the tahini dressing, the hot sauce, and 1 tablespoon of salt. Gently toss everything together. Add more tahini dressing, hot sauce, salt, and lemon juice as desired.
In the reserved skillet, drain off the remaining olive oil and toast the pitas until they are warm, 1 minute on each side.
Using a bread knife, cut along the side about a quarter of the way around the pita to form a pocket.
Serve the condiments and onions on separate plates for your guests and encourage them to build the sabich of their dreams while asking them about what they dream about.

Notes

Credit Line
Excerpted from Matty Matheson: Soups, Salads, Sandwiches by Matty Matheson. Copyright © 2024 Matty Matheson. Photographs by Quentin Bacon. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.