Nutty apple pittas with tahini ice cream
Serves: 8 (with leftover ice cream)
Prep time: 30 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Kris Kirkham
Nutty apple pittas with tahini ice cream
Recipe by Josh Katz
Serves: 8 (with leftover ice cream)
Prep time: 30 minsTotal time: 
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
366Kcal
Fat
17gr
Saturates
5gr
Carbs
42gr
Sugars
27gr
Fibre
2gr
Protein
10gr
Salt
1gr
Josh Katz
Josh Katz is the chef-owner of Berber & Q in London, serving grilled and smoked meats cooked over charcoal with mezze from the East and music from the West.
Josh Katz
Josh Katz is the chef-owner of Berber & Q in London, serving grilled and smoked meats cooked over charcoal with mezze from the East and music from the West.
Ingredients
For the tahini ice cream
- 1 vanilla pod, cut in half and seeds scraped out
- 500ml whole milk
- 6 large egg yolks
- 75g caster sugar
- 75g tahini paste, stirred
For the caramelised apples
- 75g caster sugar
- 20g unsalted butter
- 2 small apples, peeled, cored and quartered
To serve
- 30g roasted chopped hazelnuts
- a pinch of sea salt flakes
- 1 tbsp granulated or caster sugar
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 8 mini pittas or flatbreads
Step by step
Get ahead
Make the ice cream at least 1 day before. Leftovers keep for 1 month in the freezer. Remove from the freezer 30 minutes before serving.
- Start by making the ice cream. Add the vanilla seeds and pod to the milk and very gently bring to the boil in a pan. Immediately turn off the heat and allow the milk mixture to infuse for 30 minutes. Strain the milk into a clean pan, discarding the vanilla pod.
- Whisk the egg yolks and caster sugar gently in a bowl until combined, but not frothy. Pour about a quarter of the infused milk slowly onto the egg yolks and mix well. Pour back into the pan containing the rest of the milk, and put on a gentle heat. Cook on a medium heat for 10-12 minutes, stirring continuously with a wooden spoon, until it thickens and coats the back of a spoon. Remove from the heat, whisk in the tahini and allow to cool. Pour into a bowl, press clingfilm onto the surface to prevent a skin forming and cool for 1 hour. If using an ice-cream machine, chill for 2 hours then churn for 30-40 minutes until lightly frozen. If not serving immediately, transfer to a lidded container and freeze. Or, put into a lidded container, freeze for 2 hours; then mix with a fork to churn by hand; freeze again for another 2 hours. Mix again, then freeze until frozen. It should be creamy and not too frozen.
-
When almost ready to serve, caramelise the apples. Put the sugar in a large heavy-based frying pan and cook over a medium heat until a golden brown caramel has formed. Don’t stir it, just tilt the pan if you need to, to get an even colour. Add the butter and a pinch of salt and mix well with a wooden spoon, then add the apple wedges and cook on a low heat for about 10 minutes, gently moving the apples continuously to coat in the caramel. The apples should become soft but retain a slight bite. Allow to cool for 10 minutes.TipIf you don’t have time to make your own ice cream, try stirring slightly softened tahini paste into shop-bought vanilla ice cream to taste. Then refreeze.
- Mix the hazelnuts, salt, sugar and cinnamon together. Warm and split the pittas. Layer in the tahini ice cream and caramelised apples (still warm), then finish with a sprinkle of hazelnut cinnamon sugar. This recipe contains lightly cooked egg.
