Pilaf With Vermicelli

Photograph by Emma Fishman, food styling by D’mytrek Brown
We developed this recipe with Aftershocks writer Nadia Owusu, inspired by her memories of childhood meals with her Armenian-American mother (you can read her beautiful essay about a shared meal here). The dish gets its wonderful nutty flavor from toasting dry pasta in copious amounts of butter, a method used in pilaf traditions across communities, including in the Armenian diaspora, Syria, and Lebanon.