KitchenLent & every day
Eetch
Fine bulgur soaked in a warm tomato and pepper sauce, then tossed with lemon, parsley and scallions. Meatless, and better the next day.
Eetch is what fills the table during Lent, and the rest of the year it turns up at every picnic and potluck. The bulgur isn't cooked on the stove; it drinks up the hot sauce and softens on its own.
Scoop it up with lettuce leaves or pita, or eat it with a spoon.
Ingredients
Amounts in the steps are for 6 servings.
Tools
- Wide pan with a lid
Steps
Warm the olive oil in a wide pan over medium heat and cook the onion and green pepper until soft.
Stir in the tomato paste and pepper paste and cook for a minute, until they darken a little.
Add the crushed tomatoes, water, salt and Aleppo pepper and simmer gently.
Take the pan off the heat and stir in the bulgur. Cover and leave it until the bulgur has soaked up the liquid and is tender.
Stir in the lemon juice, parsley and scallions. Taste for salt and lemon, and serve at room temperature.
Good to know
- The bulgur
- It has to be fine (#1). Coarse bulgur won't soften without cooking.
- Too dry
- Stir in a splash of hot water and a little more olive oil, and let it sit a few minutes.
- Keeping
- It keeps four days in the fridge, and the flavor gets better.
Ask your grandparents
- Did your family make eetch spicy?
- Lettuce or pita?
- Was it only for Lent at your house?