by Mary Bailey
A Middle Eastern-inspired alternative to meatballs. You could use beef or chicken, but try it with lamb, the flavour is amazing.
Adapted from Gourmet Traveller magazine
| 70 g | fine bulgur |
| 2 T | olive oil, plus extra for drizzling |
| 1 | Spanish onion, ½ finely chopped, ½ thinly sliced |
| 2 cloves | garlic, finely chopped |
| 500 g | minced lamb |
| 1 | egg |
| 1 t | ground cumin |
| 1 t | ground coriander |
| 1 | dried mint |
| ½ t | dried chilli flakes |
| finely grated rind and juice of ½ lemon, plus lemon wedges to serve | |
| chopped mint, coriander, flat-leaf parsley and Lebanese cucumber, and extra-virgin olive oil, to serve |
Place bulgur in a bowl, cover with cold water and let stand for 10 minutes, then drain in a fine sieve. Heat oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat, add the chopped onion and garlic and sauté until softened (3-4 minutes). Cool, then combine in a bowl with lamb, egg, ground spices, mint, chilli flakes, rind and bulgur, and season generously to taste. Mix well with your hands, roll into walnut-sized oval balls, thread onto metal skewers, then cover and refrigerate to rest for 30 minutes.
Heat barbecue to medium-high heat.
Drizzle kofta with oil and grill, turning occasionally, until browned and just cooked through (4-5 minutes). Toss herbs, cucumber, sliced onion, olive oil and lemon juice in a bowl.
Serve kofta hot on flatbread with green tahini yoghurt, herb salad and lemon wedges. Serves 6-8.
Green Tahini Yoghurt
| 3-4 | coarsely chopped kale leaves |
| ½ c | mint (firmly packed) |
| ½ c | coriander (firmly packed) |
| ½ c | flat-leaf parsley (firmly packed) |
| 1 clove | garlic, coarsely chopped |
| 1/3 c | extra-virgin olive oil |
| 250 g | Greek yoghurt |
| 80 g | sesame seeds |
| juice of 1 lemon, or to taste |
Finely chop the kale, herbs and garlic in a food processor. Add oil and process to combine. Add yoghurt, tahini and lemon juice, season to taste and process to combine.