Kofta’s
Kofta’s are a favourite Middle Eastern dish, made from ground meat and spices. We first tried Kofta’s during our diving trip to the Red Sea – Sharm el Sheik, Egypt. Egypt has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea, the Nile River, and the Red Sea. Egyptian cuisine showcases rice-stuffed vegetables, grape leaves, hummus, shawarma, kebobs and kofta’s. We serve kofta’s with any number of Mediterranean sides.
Kofta’s
Kofta’s can be made with beef, lamb, chicken, or ground turkey. If you like mint or cilantro, change up the parsley and the flavour. There are many recipes; this is the one we have settled on. You can just make the meatballs if you prefer, but we like the skewer (shorter and flat sided) approach.
Ingredients
- 2 lb. (908 gr) ground beef
- 1 TBSP ground coriander
- 2 tsp. cumin
- 2 tsp. paprika
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp. pepper
- ½ tsp cinnamon
- ½ tsp. ground ginger
- 2 TBSP (15 gr) red onion, finely chopped
- ¼ cup (8 gr) parsley, finely chopped
- 1 egg beaten
Instructions
- Start preparing the kofta’s a minimum of 1 hour prior to cooking. The wooden skewers soak for 30 minutes while prepping the kofta’s and once formed on the skewers, they should stay a minimum of 30 minutes in the refrigerator.
- Mix all the spices (coriander, cumin, paprika, salt, pepper, cinnamon, and ginger) in a small dish and set aside.
- Finely chop red onion and parsley.
- Mix hamburger, spices, red onion, parsley and beaten egg until all ingredients are incorporated.
- Measure ¼ cup hamburger mixture and form it around the skewer. Place on Pampered Chef style baking sheet or on parchment paper on a tin baking sheet.
- Once the kofta’s are formed, place cooking sheet in the refrigerator for a minimum of 30 minutes and up to 1 hour (covered with plastic wrap).
- Pre heat oven to 400.
- Cook kofta’s for 15 minutes. Flip and continue to cook another 5 minutes.
- Kofta’s should be cooked through.
- Let rest for 5 minutes and serve with pitas, tortilla chips and condiments of choice. We’ve served with:
Tzatziki, Hummus, and Bruschetta
or Cucumber, Tomato and Chickpea Salad
or sliced vegetables and lemon slices.
Notes
We last made Kofta’s with Tzatziki, Hummus and Bruschetta and served them with fresh pitas. The Michael David Freakshow Cabernet Sauvignon was too big, even though it is a favourite of ours and delicious. the Chateau Lamartine Malbec, which is a Malbec-Merlot, Bordeaux style blend wasn’t quite it either.
If we were pairing the hummus and pita only, a French Sancerre or Sauvignon Blanc paired beautifully.
The best overall pairing was with a Pinot Noir, both Old World and New World.
We’ve paired:
- Chateau Argadens White Bordeaux
- La Crema Sonoma Coast Pinot Noir
- Louis Jadot Bourgogne Pinot Noir