Name: Baked kofta with aubergine and tomato (Kofta bil batinjan)
Yield: Makes 12 kofta, to serve six as a main or more as a side
Cuisine: Israeli
Ingredients: 2 garlic cloves, crushed; 25 g pine nuts, toasted; 60 ml olive oil; 2 tsp tomato purée; 2 tsp ground cinnamon; 1 tsp dried mint; Salt and black pepper; 1 onion, coarsely grated (120 g); 1 onion, finely chopped (150 g); 2 tbsp olive oil; 6 garlic cloves, crushed; 350 g lamb mince (15–20% fat); 1 tsp tomato purée; 1 × 400 g tin of chopped tomatoes; ¼ tsp grated nutmeg; 2 very large (or 3 large) aubergines, as wide as possible (850g), peeled in alternate long strips (to look like a zebra), then cut widthways into 12 slices, about 2½cm thick; 350 g beef mince (15–20% fat); 1 tbsp ground allspice; ½ tsp Aleppo chilli flakes (or ¼ tsp regular chilli flakes); 5 g coriander leaves, roughly chopped; 12 small picked basil leaves, (or larger leaves, shredded); 30 g parsley, very finely chopped; 3 large beef tomatoes, cut widthways into 12 slices, about 1cm thick (500g); 1 large green chilli, thinly sliced (20 g); ¼ tsp caster sugar; 3–4 plum tomatoes, coarsely grated and skins discarded (200 g); 1 tbsp olive oil

Preparation info

Makes
12
kofta

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Falastin

By Sami Tamimi and Tara Wigley

Published 2020

About

Kofta – meat patties – are something of an obsession throughout the Middle East. Baked, fried, grilled, braised; stuffed into pita and drizzled with tahini, for example, or baked in a tomato sauce and served with rice. We offer two versions: one baked with tomato and the other, a richer version, baked in a tahini sauce. They are both simple meals to comfort – perfect for a midweek supper served with some bread or rice to mop up the juices – rather than to