Servings: 4 as a main and 8 aas a side dish

1onion, finely chopped 1onion, finely chopped
60ml olive oil 60ml olive oil
2 cloves of garlic, crushed 2 cloves of garlic, crushed
175g Bulgar wheat (Burghul) 175g Bulgar wheat (Burghul)
300mls chicken or vegetable stock 300mls chicken or vegetable stock
Salt and pepper Salt and pepper
600gms spinach 600gms spinach
Leaves from a small bunch of mint Leaves from a small bunch of mint
Extra virgin olive oil Extra virgin olive oil
 
FOR THE LABNEH: subheading: FOR THE LABNEH:
250g Greek yoghurt 250g Greek yoghurt
1 fat clove of garlic 1 fat clove of garlic
Pinch of salt Pinch of salt
 
FOR THE TOMATOES: subheading: FOR THE TOMATOES:
12 plum tomatoes (Roma) 12 plum tomatoes (Roma)
60mls olive oil 60mls olive oil
30mls balsamic vinegar 30mls balsamic vinegar
1 tsp harissa 1 tsp harissa
2 tsp soft dark brown sugar 2 tsp soft dark brown sugar
 
FOR THE ONIONS: subheading: FOR THE ONIONS:
2 onions very finely chopped 2 onions very finely chopped
30mls olive oil 30mls olive oil
½ Tsp ground cinnamon ½ Tsp ground cinnamon
Juice of ½ small lemon. Juice of ½ small lemon.

You can either make the labneh yourself or buy it. I bought it but you will need to start the day before if you make it. Just line a sieve with a bit of cheesecloth and set it over a small bowl. Put the yoghurt, into the cheesecloth and refrigerate the whole thing. The yoghurt will lose some of its excess moisture over the following 24 hours leaving you with a firmer mixture, a bit like cream cheese. (Don’t use cream cheese).
Add the garlic to the labneh with a pinch of salt.
Preheat the oven to 180°c. Halve the tomatoes lengthwise and put them in a small roasting tin or oven- proof dish. Mix together the olive oil, balsamic vinegar, harissa and some salt and pepper and pour this over the tomatoes. Tuen them over, making sure they are well coated. End up with the cut side up. Sprinkle with the brown sugar and put in the oven to cook for 40 to 45 minutes until the tomatoes have shrunk and are sweet. They can be hot or room temperature when you add them to the pilaf.
For the pilaf, sauté the onion in half the olive oil in a heavy-based pan. When the onions are soft add the garlic and cook for another couple of minutes. Tip in the Bulgar wheat, pour on the stock and season. Bring up to the boil, turn down the heat and let the Bulgar simmer for about 15 minutes. All the stock will have been absorbed by then. Cover the pot and let the Bulgar sit to fluff up for a further 10minutes.
Remove the stalks from the spinach and wash the leaves well. In a covered pan cook the leaves in the water that is clinging to the leaves after washing. They will wilt in about 4 minutes. Squeeze out the excess moisture and chop the leaves very roughly. Sauté the spinach for a few minutes in the remaining olive oil and season it well with salt and black pepper. Stir through the Bulgar wheat.
Quickly cook the very finely sliced onions in very hot olive oil - you want the. Golden brown with some crispy bits. For the last minute of cooking time add the cinnamon and brown sugar. Stir this around and once the sugar has melted and begins to slightly caramelise, add a good squeeze of lemon juice and some salt and pepper.
Layer up the different components in a broad shallow bowl - tip in the Bulgar, sprinkle on half the mint, then those tomatoes and then the rest of the mint. Break up the labneh into lumps and scatter over the tomatoes. Now strew the onions on top, drizzle with a slug of your very best extra virgin olive oil before serving.