Mograbiyeh salad, something new.
I love finding new (to me) ingredients. Growing up in the country it was all just more of the same, so you can imagine how thrilled I was to move to Sydney and discover a cornucopia of novel (to me) products from asian vegetables like bitter melon to amazing mushrooms. Not that I was so sheltered from interestingness on the farm, but don’t we all yearn for something new?
Moghrabbiyeh, mograbiyeh, moghrabieh, however you spell it is a middle eastern spherical semolina pasta, and until recently it was new to me. I had seen mouthwatering recipes, but my extensive search had uncovered nothing until I was taken to a small unmarked Lebanese grocery store in my neighbourhood by someone in the know.
Also known as Israeli Couscous, mograbiyeh is similar to its miniature regular couscousy cousin, just bigger. It is used as a pasta and is very flexible, soaking up different flavours beautifully. Par boiled mograbiyeh is wonderful finished off being cooked risotto style in a slow cooked beefy stew, sharpened with vinegar and sweet with tomatoes.
But Spring is here and that means salads. This time I paired these chewy pasta balls with freshly roasted red capsicum, slow roasted tomatoes (chuck them, quartered, in a low oven for a long time, a great way to emphasize flavour in otherwise insipid tomatoes) creamy avocado, finely sliced red onion and sharp peppery rocket. Dress with a sprinkle of lemon juice, a dollop of pomegranate molasses and a drizzle of good olive oil, ensuring there is enough dressing to cover the whole lot thoroughly.
But don’t stick to these rules. You could also add pickled onion, a strong creamy goats cheese or fetta, or dress it with tahini, oil and lemon. Hey I’m not the boss of mograbiyeh salads, I’m not making any salad rules here, hell I don’t even know how to spell it which makes me unqualified to start laying down the law. So experiment! First, find some mograbiyeh then boil it up, refresh it in cold water and dress in a little oil to stop it sticking, just like pasta, then mix it up with some bold flavours and let the pasta do its job as textural contrast and flavour carrier and excitement adder. Mograbiyeh is well suited to this job and I find it exciting as it is new (to me).
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8 Comments
I’ve just bought some of these. Will give it a go. And I didn’t know that it was called mograbiyeh. Learn something new everyday!
.-= penny aka jeroxie´s last blog ..My first home made Char Siew Bao =-.
Ahh I’m completely addicted to it now thanks to the secret dinner! I will have to try it in a salad like this, it looks like the perfect spring dish. Thought I wish it was still winter so I could cook it in a stew like you mentioned, that sounds divine too. Thanks for all the tips, I had no idea what to do with the rest of my huge bag!
.-= Steph´s last blog ..Chocolate Cake with a Zumbo Salted Caramel Twist =-.
Oh that’s gorgeous! I thought they were mini chickpeas or something similar when the first image popped up. Haha love that name, I don’t think I’ll even try pronouncing it!
.-= Minh´s last blog ..The Hub, Wanaka, New Zealand =-.
I’ve been wanting to buy a bag of this to try for a while now, but have been too confused as to what to actually make with it once I get it. Thanks for the tips Lili (and love the idea of a chewy surprise in a salad).
.-= shez´s last blog ..raspberry & rosewater macarons =-.
hehe i like ‘couscousy cousin’! this looks beautiful. it sounds like the perfect meal for spring as well. i’ve never tried mograbiyeh, i think im going to have to find some now!
Looks great Lili! I love those Mograbiyeh – I only knew it as lebanese couscous.
.-= Yas @ hungry.digital.elf.´s last blog ..Malaysian & Dutch luncheon at Almost Bourdain =-.
Hey Lili
Great recipe. Nice and inventive hehehe. Avocado and moghrabiyyeh is a an interesting mix.
I think the best spelling is moghrabiyyeh. The “gh” is pronounced like the French (apart from those in Provence) say the letter R. Imagine Edith Piaf saying ahhhhh Paghis (Paris).
Then the “yy” signifies the emphasis should be on that syllable. The word means “Morroccan” and basically is implying that the technique of making the pasta was brought to us Lebanese from Morrocco. Hope that helps explain a few things.
Fouad
.-= SydneyCider´s last blog ..Wild Blackberry and Lemon Zest Jam =-.
penny aka jeroxie: Oh, these little pasta balls are so delicious! Good luck
Steph: Yeah, the stew was so tasty! I also have a huge amount left over, gotta come up with some interesting ideas to use them all now
Minh: Haha I don’t think that I should’ve ever tried to even spell it
They’re pretty awesome.
Shez: They soak up flavours really well, so that should be the focus, I reckon.
Betty: They sell it in dulwich hill if you want some, across from the train station
Yas @ hungry.digital.elf.: Yeah, such a better name hey, but I also knew it as Israeli couscous!
SydneyCider : Yeah, unorthodox, i know. Oh I see, so interesting. I should go fix all the spelling up, maybe later! Thanks for the tips.