Recipes

Spiced Wheat Berry Pilaf

  • Serves

    serves 8-10

TODD COLEMAN

Eastern spices like cumin and cardamom add bright notes to this earthy, pleasantly chewy pilaf, enriched with pistachios and dried apricots. Serve this at Thanksgiving as a lighter alternative to traditional bread stuffing. This recipe first appeared in our November 2011 issue along with Linda Monastra's story True Harvest.

Ingredients

  • 2 cups wheat berries
  • 14 cup olive oil
  • 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
  • 12 cup (about 3 oz.) finely chopped dried apricots
  • 12 cup pistachios, roughly chopped
  • 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1 tsp. ground cumin
  • 12 tsp. ground cardamom
  • Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
  • 14 cup roughly chopped mint
  • Zest and juice of 1 lemon

Instructions

Step 1

Bring wheat berries and 6 cups water to a boil in a 2-qt. saucepan over high heat; cook, stirring occasionally, until tender, about 45 minutes. Drain and set aside.

Step 2

Heat oil in a 12″ skillet over medium-high heat; add garlic, and cook, stirring, until soft, about 1 minute. Add reserved wheat berries, along with apricots, pistachios, cinnamon, cumin, cardamom, and salt and pepper, and cook, stirring, until warmed through and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in mint and lemon zest and juice.

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