Armenian Rice Pilaf

Ingredients required:

• Unsalted Butter - 2 Tbsps.

• Vermicelli Noodles - 1cup, crushed (spaghetti works too!)

• Long Grain Rice - 1 cup (instead of rice, you can always swap out an equal amount of medium or coarse grain bulgur wheat for the rice if you wish. Bulgur #2 or #3 is what you would look for).

• Chicken Broth - 4 cups(option to add one additional chicken bouillon cube for extra flavor)

• Minced Fresh Parsley - 1 to 2 Tbsp.(or one tsp. dried parsley)

• Salt

• Garlic powder

• Mixture of Raisins, Currants, and/or Chopped Apricots (or other dried fruit, like pitted dates, prunes, etc.,) - 1 to 1.5 cup

• Sliced or Slivered Almonds and/or Pine Nuts - 2/3 cup (pistachios can work too).

Preparation:

• In a 3-quart pot, melt butter over low heat.

• Once melted, add the vermicelli and sauté the noodles until they are browned, stirring constantly to prevent burning.

• Add rice and mix to combine (recipe can be made up to this point early in the day and left at room temperature).

• Add chicken broth and optional bouillon to rice and bring to a boil. Cover, reduce heat to simmer and cook pilaf until all the liquid has been absorbed, approximately 20 minutes. Do not touch the pan until the 20 minutes has elapsed.

• While the rice is cooking, chop and sauté dried fruit and nuts of your choice in a little butter, cooking 2-3 minutes until shiny and moist. Add a pinch of salt and a bit of honey and stir.

• Add sautéed fruit and nut mixture into the rice once it has cooked and mix in well.

• Mix in salt and garlic powder to taste, along with minced parsley and fluff rice before serving.

Optional Additions:

• Optional spices. You can keep it simple with salt, pepper, and garlic powder to taste, or add warm spices like cinnamon, cloves, allspice, or cardamom (mix in with chicken broth).

• Ripped up Lavash (aka Flat Bread) can also be added in for additional texture and flavor. Sometimes pilaf is baked in a dish lined with Lavash.