Lamb Köfte with Tahini Sauce

In Israel food is a celebration. Wherever you go, you will find people ordering tables full of little dishes, all meant for sharing. You find the likes of amazing salads, grilled meats, creamy dips and charred vegetables. It’s a feast for the eyes and the palate.

One of the dishes I really liked in Israel are köfte – little lamb meatballs with lots of spices. In Jerusalem we were served giant köfte skewers in a small kebab shop in one of Jerusalem’s alleys. The meat came with a bowl of creamy tahini sauce and simple Israeli salad (cucumber, tomato and red onion). It was such a simple meal, yet so utterly delicious. And fortunately, it’s easy enough to make köfte at home and feel like in a kebab shop in Jerusalem…

This is a recipe from my cookbook ‘Flavours of Home’. You can watch me make these köfte here.

This recipe was created as part of my “Staycation” show, inspiring people with recipes from my travels that they can recreate at home – to get us all to travel in our minds despite being stuck at home this summer…

Ingredients

25g pine nuts
½ tsp cumin seeds
1 onion
1 garlic clove
250g lamb mince
250g beef mince
1 tsp ground cumin
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground coriander
a pinch of chili flakes (optional)
2 tbsp flat leaf parsley, finely chopped
2 tbsp mint, finely chopped
½ tsp salt
pepper

For the tahini sauce:
110g tahini
1 tbsp lemon juice
75ml water
1 small garlic clove, crushed
salt and pepper

pomegranate seeds, to serve

For the Israeli salad:
½ cucumber
200g cherry tomatoes
½ red onion
20g flat leaf parsley
a bit of lemon juice
a bit if olive oil
salt and pepper

Method

Makes 12 köfte for 4 people

Toast the nuts and cumin seeds in a frying pan until fragrant. Put into a large bowl.

Peel and finely chop the onion and the garlic clove and add to the pine nuts. Add the lamb and beef mince and all the other ingredients and knead with your hands until the mix comes together and is well combined.

Shape the meat mix into 12 sausage-like köfte. Put on a plate, cover with cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes to firm up.

Meanwhile, prepare the tahini sauce and the salad. Mix all the ingredients for the tahini sauce in a bowl until smooth. Adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper.

Cut the cucumber and cherry tomatoes into dice and put in a bowl. Finely chop the red onion and parsley and add to the bowl with a bit of lemon juice, olive oil and salt and pepper.

Cook the köfte: heat a bit of olive oil in a frying pan and fry the köfte for about 12 minutes, turning regularly, until golden brown and cooked all the way through.

Spread some tahini sauce over a serving plate, place the köfte on top, sprinkle with pomegranate seeds and serve with the Israeli salad as a side.

Lamb Köfte with Tahini Sauce

Ingredients

Method

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