COPPERTabbouleh recipe
A Lebanese herb salad in which parsley is the body and the fine bulgur is only a scattering, softened by tomato juice rather than water.
Ingredients
- 300 g flat leaf parsley
- 40 g fine bulgur
- 400 g tomatoes
- 30 g mint
- 60 g spring onion
- 60 ml lemon juice
- 60 ml olive oil
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 pinch allspice
How to make Tabbouleh
- Rinse 40 g of fine (#1) bulgur and tip it into a bowl. Do not soak it in water.
- Dice 400 g of tomatoes small, tip them over the bulgur with 1 tsp of salt and leave 15 minutes: the tomato juice is what softens the grain.
- Wash 300 g of flat leaf parsley and dry it completely, then chop it very finely with a sharp knife. Never a food processor, which bruises the leaves and turns the salad bitter.
- Chop 60 g of mint leaves and slice 60 g of spring onion thinly.
- Fold the parsley, mint and spring onion into the tomato and bulgur mixture.
- Dress with 60 ml of lemon juice, 60 ml of olive oil and a pinch of allspice, and toss only at the moment of serving so the parsley stays green.
- Serve with romaine or young cabbage leaves to scoop. The plate should read overwhelmingly green, not beige.
What is Tabbouleh?
Tabbouleh is a traditional dish from Lebanon, and takes about 35 minutes from start to finish. It is built around tomatoes, flat leaf parsley and spring onion. The recipe below uses 9 ingredients and is written out step by step.
How long does Tabbouleh take?
At 35 minutes it is quicker than 92% of the 586 dishes in Copper's atlas. Copper's atlas has 51 dishes built on tomatoes. The method runs to 7 steps, the longest being 15 minutes.
Any tips for making Tabbouleh?
Dry the parsley completely and chop it with a sharp knife, never a food processor, which bruises the leaves and turns the salad bitter.
How Tabbouleh compares
Hard to find elsewhere: flat leaf parsley (2) and fine bulgur (3).
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