Winter tabbouleh with a blood orange dressing 

Search

Winter tabbouleh with a blood orange dressing 

This flavour packed dish comes from Ottolengi restaurateur and chef Sami Tamimi's stunning Palestinian cuisine celebrating cookery book Falastin. One Friday night in Febuary 2022 Sami cooked this dish for a special Made In Hackney class with 100 people joining from around the world. All agreed it was delicious. 

Ingredients

• 200g bulgur (Medium or coarse ground. wholewheat or normal bulgur can be used.)

• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

• ½ teaspoon ground allspice (same as pimento)

• 1 tablespoon olive oil

• 225ml boiling water 

• 250g cavolo nero, stems discarded (or saved to chop up and pan-fry for another dish) and leaves roughly shredded (150g)

• ½ a small head of red cabbage, core cut out and discarded, then thinly sliced by hand or on a mandolin (550g)

• 40g parsley leaves, roughly chopped

• 25g mint leaves, roughly torn

• 6 spring onions, finely sliced (90g)

• 4 blood oranges (or 2 regular oranges, as an alternative) (500g), peeled and sliced into ½cm-thick rounds 

• 85g pomegranate seeds (from ½ a pomegranate) 

Blood orange dressing  

• 1 blood (or regular) orange, squeezed to get 50ml of juice 

• 1 lemon, squeezed to get 30ml juice 

• ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon

• ¼ teaspoon allspice

• 2 teaspoon pomegranate molasses

• 1 teaspoon caster sugar

• 130ml olive oil

• Salt and black pepper

Method

1. Put the bulgur, cinnamon, allspice, 2 teaspoons of olive oil, the boiling water and ¼ teaspoon of salt into a medium sauté pan for which you have a lid.
2. Bring to the boil on a medium heat, then cover the pan, remove from the heat and set aside for 30 minutes. Remove the lid, fluff the bulgur with a fork and set aside to cool.
3. Put the cavolo nero into a bowl with the remaining teaspoon of oil and a tiny pinch of salt. Using your hands, mix well, gently massaging the leaves, then set aside.
4. Put all the ingredients for the dressing, apart from the olive oil, into a bowl with ⅛ teaspoon of salt and a good grind of black pepper. Whisk to combine, then, continuing to whisk as you pour, slowly add the oil until the mix is thick and emulsified.
5. Tip the cooled bulgur into a very large bowl and add the cabbage, parsley, mint, spring onions, orange, ¾ teaspoon of salt and a generous grind of black pepper.
6. Mix well to combine, add the cavolo nero, and pour over the dressing. Mix just to combine, then transfer to a serving platter or individual plates.
7. Finally, sprinkle over the pomegranate seeds. 

To learn more about Sami and buy a copy of Falastin Falastin (Signed Copy) | Ottolenghi.co.uk | Buy Online