Best Homemade Sour Bulgur Trahana From Ikaria Recipes

SIMPLE TRAHANA SOUP WITH LEMON AND OLIVE OIL

Steps:

• In a medium soup pot heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat and add trahana. Stir until coated with oil, about 1 minute. Add water or stock and bring to a boil. Add salt and pepper to taste, reduce the heat and simmer, stirring often, until trahana is tender and nutty tasting and the broth slightly thickened, 15 to 20 minutes if using home-made bulgur trahana (if you use semolina or flour trahana the time will only be 8 to 12 minutes and the mixture will be more like a porridge).
• Remove from heat and stir in lemon juice. Spoon into bowls and top with a drizzle of olive oil and a tablespoon of crumbled feta. Garnish with plain yogurt if desired and chopped fresh herbs such as mint, parsley or dill.

PURéED TRAHANA AND VEGETABLE SOUP

Steps:

• Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat in a heavy soup pot and add onion. Cook, stirring often, until onion is soft, 5 to 8 minutes, and add a generous pinch of salt, garlic, carrots and leeks. Continue to cook, stirring often, until carrots and leeks are beginning to soften, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Add remaining olive oil and stir in trahana. Stir until trahana is coated with oil, about 1 minute, and add stock or water and bouquet garni. Bring to a boil, add salt to taste, reduce heat and simmer 30 minutes, until vegetables are tender and trahana has fallen apart in the soup and is tender. Taste and adjust salt. Remove and discard bouquet garni.
• For a coarse purée, use an immersion blender to purée the soup. For a finer purée, transfer, in batches, to a blender or a food processor. If using a blender do not put the top on tight; leave out the center of the lid and cover tightly with a towel. Purée until smooth and if desired, strain. Return to the pot, taste and adjust salt. Add freshly ground pepper to taste.
• Reheat gently and serve, garnishing each serving with a drizzle of olive oil and a sprinkling of herbs. If you want spice, sprinkle with red pepper flakes or a little bit of cayenne.

TRAHANA WITH MUSHROOMS

Steps:

• Place dried mushrooms in a bowl or in a pyrex measuring cup and pour on 3 cups boiling water. Let sit for 30 minutes. Line a strainer with cheesecloth or with a double thickness of paper towels, place it over a bowl and drain mushrooms. Squeeze mushrooms over the strainer to extract all the liquid, then rinse them in several changes of water to remove sand. Chop coarsely and set aside. Combine mushroom soaking liquid with additional vegetable or chicken stock to make 7 cups. Add salt to taste if stock is not already seasoned. Transfer to a saucepan and bring to a simmer.
• Heat one tablespoon of oil over medium heat in a large heavy skillet or wide saucepan and add onion. Cook, stirring, until just tender, about 5 minutes, and add dried and fresh mushrooms. Cook, stirring, until mushrooms begin to release liquid, about 3 minutes. Add garlic, thyme and a generous pinch of salt. Cook, stirring, until mushroom liquid has just about evaporated, and add the remaining oil and the trahana. Cook, stirring, until trahana is coated with oil.
• Stir in wine and cook over medium heat, stirring, until wine is no longer visible in the pan. Stir in a ladleful or two of simmering stock, enough to just cover trahana. The stock should bubble slowly. Cook, stirring often, until it is just about absorbed. Add another ladleful of stock and continue to cook in this fashion, not too fast and not too slowly, adding more stock when trahana is almost dry, for 15 to 20 minutes, or until trahana is tender. Taste and season with salt and pepper.
• Add another small ladleful of stock to the trahana. Stir in parsley and Parmesan if using. The trahana should be creamy. Serve at once in wide bowls.