Kibbeh in a Pan

Recipe Box

This is for Julie P. who wanted the recipe. I started to tell her it’s right out of Claudia Roden’s A Book of Middle Eastern Food*, but then had to correct myself. I’ve made some adjustments and additions. So what follows is what I made for supper last night. It turned out very well, and I’ll make it again sometime! To feed 12, I doubled the recipe, and baked it in an 11x17 pan. I suspect a single recipe should feed 6, or four if you have teens at home, and will likely work well in a 9x9 pan.

The general idea is that there is a pastry part, and a filling. Both include meat, which can be beef or lamb. Ground works just fine. I took exactly one photo while working on this, as I hadn’t planned to blog the recipe. That’s ok! This is what the filling looks like on the bottom layer of ‘crust.’

For the ‘crust’

• 1 lb meat, ground or cut into small pieces

• 1 large onion, chopped

• 2 tsp salt

• 1 tbsp Kibbeh Spice

• 1 c fine burghul

Soak the burghul (cracked wheat) in warm water for about ten minutes. Drain, and squeeze to press out as much moisture as you can. There will be bits of burghul everywhere. This is a very hands-on, messy prep dish. It’s fun!

I used a food processor to make this, as you’ll take the meat, spices, and salt to a paste, then add in the onion and finally the soaked burghul. You’ll likely have to start, stop, and scrape down the bowl several times. The traditional preparation is done in a mortar and pestle which is likely great for an upper-body workout.

For the filling:

• 1 medium or 1/2 large onion, finely chopped

• 3-4 garlic cloves, finely chopped

• 1/2 lb ground or chopped meat

• 2 tsp Kibbeh Spice

• Salt

• 1 bunch parsley, chopped

• 1/3 c pine nuts

• oil for frying

• 1 stick butter, melted

Fry up the meat until browned, adding in the spice towards the end of this process. Add the garlic and onion and fry until translucent. Turn off heat, but leave on the burner, and stir in the parsley and pine nuts.

Preheat the oven to 390F, I was using convection for this dish. Heat to 400F for a conventional oven.

Divide your ‘pastry’ into halves. With wet hands to keep it from sticking too much to you, press one half into the bottom of the pan. Smooth it out nice and level. Spread the filling evenly over this. Then take portions of the remaining ‘pastry’ and flatten it out in your hands, until perhaps a half-a-finger thickness. Place these on top of the filling and carefully smooth them into one another until you have a nice smooth top with no seams or holes.

Cut with a sharp knife or dough blade into the portions you desire. Diamond shapes are traditional. You can decorate with pine nuts if you like. Pour the melted butter over the top as evenly as you can.

Bake at 390 (with convection, 400 if not) for 30-40 minutes, until the edges are crispy and browned, and there is bubbling from the filling around the edges. Allow to cool briefly, then serve with a yogurt sauce, fresh lemon wedges, or pickled vegetables to cut through the richness.

Spicy goodness!

*I have the 1972 version, so while there is an updated version of the book, I don’t know how different the recipes will be.