Palestinian maftoul salad

Name: Palestinian maftoul salad
Yield: Serves 4-6 as a starter or side
Cuisine: Turkish recipes
Ingredients: 80ml Fairtrade Palestinian olive oil; 3 onions, sliced; 4 garlic cloves, chopped; 2 green chillies, deseeded and finely chopped; 250g maftoul, rinsed and drained; 600ml vegetable stock; 60g raisins; 3 roasted red peppers (from a jar), rinsed, patted dry and finely sliced; 1 cucumber, seeds removed, chopped into small cubes 3 spring onions, finely sliced; 2 handfuls fresh flatleaf parsley, roughly chopped; Handful fresh mint, roughly chopped; Juice 2 lemons; 2 tbsp Fairtrade Palestinian za’atar or sumac (find both of these in larger supermarkets; or speciality shops)100g Fairtrade almonds, skin on, roughly chopped

By: Allegra McEvedy

Published: 11 Mar 16
Updated: 18 Mar 24

Test kitchen approved

Allegra McEvedy’s vibrant, Palestinian salad recipe is a great vegetarian starter on it’s own or as a side for grilled chicken or fish

Serves 4-6 as a starter or side
Hands-on time 25 min, simmering time 20 min

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Ingredients

80ml Fairtrade Palestinian olive oil
3 onions, sliced
4 garlic cloves, chopped
2 green chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
250g maftoul, rinsed and drained
600ml vegetable stock
60g raisins
3 roasted red peppers (from a jar), rinsed, patted dry and finely sliced
1 cucumber, seeds removed, chopped into small cubes 3 spring onions, finely sliced
2 handfuls fresh flatleaf parsley, roughly chopped
Handful fresh mint, roughly chopped
Juice 2 lemons
2 tbsp Fairtrade Palestinian za’atar or sumac (find both of these in larger supermarkets
or speciality shops)100g Fairtrade almonds, skin on, roughly chopped

Method

Put a large, wide saucepan over a medium heat with half the olive oil. Once the oil is hot (but not smoking) add the onions and cook, stirring, for a few minutes, then add the garlic and chillies and cook for 5-7 minutes more until the onions are soft and beginning to caramelise.
Add the maftoul, increase the heat and stir well – the maftoul should be coated in the oil and fried for a couple of minutes. Add the vegetable stock, bring to the boil, add the raisins and a couple of pinches of salt, then turn down the heat to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes until the maftoul is cooked and the liquid is absorbed.
Once cooked, spread out the maftoul mixture on a tray to cool – don’t add any of the vegetables/greenery until it’s room temperature. In a big bowl, mix the cooled maftoul with the peppers, cucumber, spring onions and herbs, then stir in the rest of the olive oil, the lemon juice and some salt and pepper to taste. Serve at room temperature, scattered with za’atar and chopped almonds.

Recipe from February 2016 Issue

Nutrition

Nutrition: per serving

Per serving (for 6)

Calories: 442kcals
Fat: 20.8g (2.3g saturated)
Protein: 12.7g
Carbohydrates: 48.1g (15.9g sugars)
Fibre: 5.5g
Salt: 0.6g

delicious. tips

When in season, use fresh, diced tomatoes instead of cucumber (or a mix of both), and fresh red peppers instead of roasted.
Maftoul is also known as giant couscous or mograbiah. Find it in larger supermarkets, or use Italian fregola instead.

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Palestinian maftoul salad

Ingredients

Method

Nutrition

delicious. tips

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