A Rosh Hashanah Middle Eastern Feast!

L'shanah tovah! There are many ways of celebrating, but all of them definitely involve food. In this case, I decided to embrace my Sephardic roots and cook a Middle Eastern feast with a special focus on Moroccan food. (My Mom is Moroccan and my grandmother cooked Moroccan food at many family meals growing up.) You'll find a veggie-heavy meal full of Middle eastern flavors, but served alongside some challah, Jewish apple apple cake, and chocolate honey cake to connect to a few Ashkenazi and traditional Rosh Hashanah dishes.

I served the meal across three courses - and the recipes included below are in italics. A few aren't listed since they are elsewhere on the site or were my husband's creations instead of mine.

We started with appetizers:

Roasted Eggplant with Garlic Confit (pictured above)

Matbucha

Hummus

Pita

(paired with some manchego, brie, and crackers)

We moved on to the main course:

Yemenite-Spiced Cauliflower with Schug Labneh

Roasted Citrus-Pomegranate Glazed Carrots

Egyptian Moussaka

Moroccan Lamb Shoulder

Couscous with Dates and Pistachios

Round Challah (challah is elsewhere on blog... just make it round instead of braided)

And we finally ended with dessert:

Tut (marzipan)

Chocolate Honey Cake

Jewish Apple Cake (elsewhere on blog)

We started prep the night before and I'll note below where I did that and then started cooking about five hours before dinner time. I'll note the time for each recipe below, but you won't find a total time for this meal since each piece may add up differently and not all recipes are in full detail below. Most importantly, though, it was absolutely delicious and everyone had a great time. Here is a to a good next year!

Crispy Gnocchi and Brussels Sprouts

Well this was absolutely delicious! I've never made gnocchi in this way before, but I definitely will be again. Instead of boiling, the gnocchi is pan seared and then allowed to plump up, leading to a soft, pillowy inside but a slightly crisp and therefore intensely flavored outside. It's gnocchi at it's best.

In this case, it's paired with some crisp-tender brussels sprouts and an olive oil-brown butter sauce, but you could use the same technique with other sauces, pairings, and toppings. Give this one a whirl and let me know if you come up with other great combinations.

And - the best part of this meal? My eight year old daughter couldn't stop eating the brussels sprouts. She tentatively tried one, and then went back for more and more and more. It's kid approved!

Time: 20 min