Diana Henry’s Bulgur and Spinach Pilaf with Labneh and Chilli- Roasted Tomatoes
Pilafs (and pulaos) are a staple in India, South Asia, and the Middle East, so this dish speaks to my soul. I loved the familiarity of the flavors in this pilaf; it was pure comfort. The labneh was an extra-special touch. This recipe is from legendary cookbook author Diana Henry from her classic Crazy Water, Pickled Lemons (Aster, 2024).
This Turkish dish has layers of flavor and texture: nutty bulgur wheat, hot, sweet tomatoes, chunks of cool labneh, and cinnamon onions. It’s great with lamb, or on tomatoes as its own vegetarian entrée. – Diana Henry, Crazy Water, Pickled Lemons (Aster, 2024).
- Yield: 4 as an entrée/8 as a side dish
Ingredients
For the Pilaf
1 onion/about 300 g finely chopped
1/4 cup/60 ml extra-virgin olive oil
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 cup/160 g bulgur wheat
1 1/4 cups/300 ml chicken broth or vegetable broth
12 oz/340 g baby spinach
small bunch of mint leaves, torn
For the Labneh (See Notes)
1 cup/240 g whole milk Greek yogurt
1 fat garlic clove, crushed
flaky sea salt
For the Tomatoes
1/4 cup/60 ml olive oil
2 Tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 to 1 1/2 tsp harissa paste
2 tsp dark brown sugar
freshly ground black pepper
For the Onions
2 onions/each about 300 g, very thinly sliced
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tsp light brown sugar
juice of 1/2 lemon/about 60 ml
Instructions
- You have to start the labneh the day before. Just line a strainer with a bit of cheesecloth and set it over a small bowl. Put the yogurt into the cheesecloth and refrigerate the whole thing. The yogurt will lose a bit of excess moisture over the next 24 hours, leaving you with a firmer mixture, a bit like cream cheese. Help it by giving it a squeeze once or twice.
- Preheat the oven to 375F/190C.
- To roast the tomatoes, halve them lengthways and put in a small roasting pan or ovenproof dish. Mix together the regular olive oil, balsamic vinegar, harissa, and some salt and pepper, and pour this over the tomatoes. Turn them over to coat, ending them with cut side-up. Sprinkle the dark brown sugar over them and put them in the oven for 40 to 50 minutes, or until they are shrunken and sweet. They can be either be hot or at room temperature when you add them to the pilaf, so you could do this a bit in advance.
- For the pilaf, sauté the chopped onion in half the regular olive oil in a fairly heavy-based saucepan. When the onion is soft and translucent, add the garlic and cook for another couple of minutes. Tip the bulgur into the pan, pour on the broth and season. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and let the bulgur simmer in the broth and season. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and let the bulgur simmer in the broth for about 15 minutes. All the broth will have been absorbed by then. Cover the pot and let the bulgur sit to fluff up for another 10 minutes.
- In a covered pot, cook the spinach leaves in the water that clings to them. They will wilt in about 4 minutes. Squeeze out the excess moisture – put handfuls between 2 dinner plates – and chop the leaves roughly. Sauté the spinach for a few minutes in the remaining regular olive oil and season it well with salt and pepper. Stir this into the bulgur.
- Quickly cook the thinly sliced onions in hot regular olive oil: you want them golden brown with some crispy bits. For the last minute of cooking time, add the cinnamon and brown sugar. Stir this around, and once the sugar has melted and begun to slightly caramelize, add a good squeeze of lemon juice and some salt and pepper.
- Layer up the components in a broad shallow bowl: tip in the bulgur, sprinkle on half the mint, then the tomatoes, then the rest of the mint. Break the labneh into lumps and scatter over the tomatoes. Now strew the onions on top, drizzle with a glug of extra-virgin olive and serve.
Notes
- You can skip making labneh at home and buy it from the store. Use 1 cup of labneh and mix the garlic into it.
- I used yellow and white onions to make this dish.
- The original recipe calls for two types of brown sugar (light and dark); and regular olive oil and extra-virgin olive oil. I used dark brown sugar and extra-virgin olive oil throughout. I leave this up to you.
