Bulgur and Kale Casserole

Bulgur and Kale Casserole
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Total Time
About 1 hour 45 minutes
Rating
4(123)
Comments
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This comforting kale and bulgur casserole is modeled on the casserole I made a few weeks ago for Recipes for Health, with eggplant and bulgur.

Featured in: Hearty Do-Ahead Dishes

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Ingredients

Yield:Serves 6 to 8

    For the Tomato Sauce

    • 1tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
    • 1small or ½ medium onion, chopped
    • 2 to 4garlic cloves (to taste)
    • 2pounds fresh tomatoes, quartered if you have a food mill, peeled, seeded and chopped if you don’t, or  1 28-ounce can chopped tomatoes, with juice, or crushed tomatoes in purée
    • Salt
    • freshly ground pepper
    • ½teaspoon sugar
    • ¼teaspoon ground cinnamon
    • ½teaspoon sweet paprika
    • ¼teaspoon ground allspice

    For the Gratin

    • 1pound kale, stemmed and washed, or a 10-ounce bag of stemmed, washed kale
    • 1tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
    • 1garlic clove, minced
    • Salt
    • freshly ground pepper
    • 1cup coarse bulgur No. 3, cooked
    • ¼cup finely chopped fresh dill
    • 2ounces approximately ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan
    • 3eggs
    • 1cup thick plain low-fat yogurt
    • Salt to taste
    • pepper to taste
    • paprika to taste
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

246 calories; 10 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 4 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 31 grams carbohydrates; 10 grams dietary fiber; 8 grams sugars; 14 grams protein; 753 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Make the tomato sauce. Heat the olive oil in a large, heavy skillet over medium heat and add the onion. Cook, stirring, until tender, about 5 minutes, and add the garlic. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about a minute, and add the tomatoes, salt to taste, pepper, sugar, cinnamon, paprika and allspice. Turn the heat up to medium-high and cook until the tomatoes are bubbling. Stir together, turn the heat back to medium-low, partly cover and cook, stirring often, until the tomatoes have cooked down and the sauce is thick and fragrant, 25 to 30 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning. Remove from the heat. If your sauce is chunky, put through a food mill or pulse in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Set aside.

  2. Step 2

    Meanwhile, blanch the kale in salted boiling water for 4 minutes or steam for 5 to 8 minutes, until tender. Rinse with cold water and squeeze dry. Chop fine (you can do this by pulsing in a food processor fitted with the steel blade.)

  3. Step 3

    Heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large, heavy skillet and add the garlic. When it begins to smell fragrant, in about 30 seconds, stir in the chopped kale. Toss together and season to taste with salt and freshly ground pepper. Stir in the bulgur and dill, combine well and remove from the heat.

  4. Step 4

    Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Oil a 3-quart baking or gratin dish. Spoon a small amount of tomato sauce on the bottom of the dish, and spoon in the bulgur and kale. Spread in an even layer. Sprinkle 2 tablespoons of the Parmesan on top and cover with the remaining tomato sauce, spread in an even layer.

  5. Step 5

    Beat together the eggs, yogurt and 2 tablespoons of the remaining Parmesan. Season with salt, pepper and paprika. Spoon over the tomato sauce and spread in an even layer. Sprinkle the remaining Parmesan on top. Place in the oven and bake 30 to 35 minutes, until golden. Remove from the heat and let sit for 10 minutes or longer before serving.

Tips
  • To cook the bulgur, bring 2 cups water with salt to taste to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add the bulgur, and when the water comes back to a boil, reduce the heat to low, cover and simmer 15 to 20 minutes, until all of the water has been absorbed. Remove from the heat, place a clean dish towel over the pan and cover with the lid. Let sit 10 minutes.
  • Advance preparation: All of the elements of this casserole will keep for 2 to 3 days in the refrigerator, as will the assembled casserole, without the egg-yogurt topping. Make the topping right before baking. The casserole can be baked ahead and reheated.

Ratings

4 out of 5
123 user ratings
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Comments

This tasted very good, but I'm reluctant to ever preparing this again. I went out of counter space because it requires soooo many pots and equipment and has too many steps..... If I ever do it again, I would try to simplify the process a bit... maybe by not blanching the kale and using a potato masher to break down the tomatoes. I would also double the amount of bulgur to get a richer casserole. I had to bake it 15 min longer than stated.

I used jarred tomato sauce, farro in place of the bulgur, and a mix of baby kale, spinach, and chard (because that's what I had) that I did not blanch. Nevertheless, this was absolutely delicious! I'd definitely make it again.

Very tasty. Takes a lot of equipment to make, but the results were nice -- sort of a vegetarian take on moussaka or pastitsio. The top browns up very nicely.

Fantastic and will undoubtedly made again. Recipe is forgiving about exact proportions / herbs / etc. We were in a vacation house - no dill, garlic, or allspice, but we added cloves, nutritional yeast and fennel greens. Only had 2 eggs but included a bit more cheese. Wanted to use up our bulgur so went a bit heavier than recipe called for. Smash hit with our guests.

I substituted the yogurt with cottage cheese and also added a cup of black eyed peas. Really good! I used my instant pot to prep the beans and bulgar separately so it made prep much easier. Broiled it to finish it off and add some crust to the cheese and egg mixture on top.

The acidic tomatoes stole the show! Next time will make it without the tomato sauce!

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