Celebrate Fall With These Classic Mediterranean Dishes by José Andrés

To serve, spread the puree in a serving bowl. Sprinkle the za’atar over the top and drizzle with pumpkin seed oil. Garnish with pumpkin seeds and serve with warm pita bread or pita chips.

Shawarma Spice Roast Chicken

The savory spice mix for this Shawarma Roast Chicken recipe takes it to a whole new level of flavor.

Thomas Schauer/Courtesy HarperCollins Publishers

I love to roast a chicken. This humble bird can provide amazing meals throughout the week for me and my wife. We use every part of a whole chicken for soups, rices and more. But some days for a quick meal, we will roast just a few pieces, and this savory spice mix takes it to a whole new level of flavor. Shawarma is the famous street food found throughout the Eastern Mediterranean. It's made from meats such as lamb, beef and chicken, marinated in a combination of warm, rich spices, then roasted on a spit and sliced into pita bread. I promise you — once you introduce this spice mixture into your cooking, you will be using it on everything.

Ingredients

• 2½ pounds bone-in chicken (split breasts, thighs or legs)
• 1½ tablespoons Aleppo pepper
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin
• 1 tablespoon sumac
• 1 tablespoon freshly ground white pepper
• ½ tablespoon freshly ground black pepper
• ½ tablespoon grated nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
• ½ teaspoon minced or grated garlic
• ½ tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil plus more for drizzling
• Kosher salt
• Flaky sea salt
• Lemon wedges

Directions

Preheat oven to 425°F. Set a wire rack in a rimmed baking sheet.

Put the Aleppo pepper, cumin, sumac, white and black pepper, nutmeg and turmeric together in a small bowl and stir until well combined. Put the garlic in another small bowl and stir in the 1/2 tablespoon of olive oil.

Pat the chicken pieces dry with a paper towel, then season them generously with kosher salt. Coat each piece with the garlic-oil mixture, then generously season with about 2 tablespoons of the spice mixture.

Place the chicken pieces on the wire rack and roast in the oven until the skin is golden brown and the meat is cooked through, 30 to 35 minutes. If using chicken breasts, they should reach 160°F on a meat thermometer.

Let the chicken rest for about 5 minutes, then sprinkle the pieces with a little more spice mixture and flaky sea salt. Add a drizzle of olive oil and serve with lemon wedges. (Keep any remaining spice mixture in a sealed container for use in meat and vegetable dishes.)

Saffron Pilaf

With its golden yellow color thanks to saffron and turmeric, and the combination of sweet and spice, this Saffron Pilaf is an amazing recipe for the cool days of fall and winter.

Thomas Schauer/Courtesy HarperCollins Publishers

This recipe is a tribute to the Ottoman pilaf tradition. In Istanbul, the addition of nuts, fruits and warm spices to pilafs started with cooks in the Topkapi Palace. They were obviously influenced by the neighboring Persians, whose pilafs were the center of every celebration. With a golden yellow color thanks to saffron and turmeric, and the combination of sweet and spice, this is an amazing recipe for the cool days of fall and winter. It also easily doubles as a centerpiece for a holiday table. Our version is laced with a cut vermicelli-style pasta, widely available in grocery stores as fideo noodles. The crispy onion topping makes this a standout side dish.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
• 1 small shallot, thinly sliced
• ¼ cup fideo or chopped fine egg noodles
• 1 bay leaf
• ¼ teaspoon saffron threads
• 1 cardamom pod
• ⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground cumin
• ¼ teaspoon ground coriander seeds
• ½ teaspoon ground turmeric
• 1 cup basmati rice
• 1½ cups vegetable stock
• ½ tablespoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons crushed roasted pistachios
• 2 tablespoons slivered almonds
• ¼ cup diced dates
• ¼ cup diced dried apricots
• 2 tablespoons fried onions
• 1 tablespoon thinly sliced flat-leaf parsley leaves

Directions

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add the shallots and cook until translucent but not browned, about 3 minutes. Add the pasta and toast, stirring, about 2 minutes. Add the bay leaf, saffron, cardamom, nutmeg, cumin, coriander and turmeric and continue to toast for 1 minute. Stir in the rice and continue to toast for 2 more minutes.

Meanwhile, heat the stock in a small saucepan until just boiling. Pour the hot stock over the toasted rice mixture and add the salt; the stock should cover the rice by 1/2 inch. (Add hot water if more is needed to fully cover the rice.)

Cover the pot and reduce the heat to low. Cook for about 10 minutes, until the rice is tender and cooked through. Remove the pot from the heat and let the rice steam for another 5 minutes.

To serve, remove the cardamom pod and fold in the pistachios, almonds, dates and apricots and the remaining tablespoon of butter. Stir until the butter has melted and is thoroughly combined. Spoon the rice onto a serving plate and garnish with fried onions and parsley.

Recipes excerpted from Zaytinya: Delicious Mediterranean Dishes from Greece, Turkey, and Lebanon by permission of Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers. Copyright 2024 by José Andrés Media.