Turkish bulgur pilaf with yogurt and pumpkin

#active-time/30-to-60mins #cuisines/middle-eastern #dietary/vegetarian #dishes/main #meals/dinner #methods/baking #scalable #seasons/autumn #seasons/winter
Dinner by Melissa Clark
Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1.25 lbs pumpkin or winter squash, seeded and sliced into 1-inch-thick wedges
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 4 tbsp (1/2 stick) unsalted butter
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 1 3/4 cups coarse bulgur
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 3 cups plus 2 tablespoons chicken stock, vegetable stock, or water
• Zest of 1/2 orange or 1 tangerine
• 1/8 to 1/4 tsp ground Aleppo pepper, to taste
• Plain whole-milk yogurt (if using Greek yogurt, whisk in some milk to thin it)
• Toasted pepitas
• Chopped fresh dill leaves
• Coarse sea salt

Instructions

1. Heat the oven to 425°F.
2. Brush the squash wedges with olive oil and season them with salt and pepper. Spread them out on a rimmed baking sheet and roast, turning them over halfway through, until they are golden brown and tender, 20 to 40 minutes depending on the squash. Watch them carefully.
3. Meanwhile, heat 1 tbsp olive oil with 1 tbsp butter in a 3-quart pot. When the butter has melted, add the onion and sauté until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add the bulgur and allspice and sauté for 2 minutes.
4. Stir in the stock and bring it to a vigorous boil. Reduce the heat to low, cover the pot, and cook until the bulgur is tender, all liquid has been absorbed, and there appear to be holes in the surface of the bulgur, about 15 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat, place a clean dish towel between the top of the pot and the lid, and let it stand for 5 to 10 minutes longer to steam.
5. Melt the remaining 3 tbsp butter in a small skillet and cook until the foam subsides and the butter turns a deep nut brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in the tangerine zest and Turkish red pepper.
6. To serve, mound the bulgur onto a platter. Arrange the pumpkin on top. Drizzle yogurt and the warm butter mixture over the top. Garnish with the pumpkin seeds, dill, coarse sea salt, and additional Turkish red pepper.
   The unusual flavors of this pilaf - tangerine zest, chile, and brown butter - come straight from Istanbul, where I learned a similar recipe from Engin Akin, a Turkish food historian and cookbook author. Her version calls for chestnuts instead of pumpkin. But I like the sweetness and velvety texture of the roasted winter squash against the toasted flavor of bulgur. You can use any kind of winter squash or pumpkin. I like roasting squash with the skin on for this recipe; it makes for a more dramatic presentation. And, little known fact: squash skins are not only edible, some of them—particularly from young, tender squashes—are delicious, adding a crisp texture if you oil them up and roast them at high heat. Delicatas, acorn, red kuri, and dumpling squashes all tend to have tasty thin skins.

Journal

• 2025-10-29: spontaneously made with Maria for dinner with a farmers market pumpkin. Tasty! Made less of the butter sauce than was recommended, and maybe that’s why we didn’t notice it contributing much to the taste, but the rest was great.