Kofta And Potato In The Oven

Kofta and potato slices cooked in the oven with tomato sauce. It is a very healthy, flavorful and easy recipe you can make with minced meat. 

This traditional Kofta and Potato is very popular in Syria and mostly served with Syrian Rice Pilaf.  You can add different vegetables like eggplants too. 

Kofta is ground meat mixed with onion and spices that’s shaped into patties or meatballs and cooked. Kofta is eaten in cuisines across the world; Indian, Middle Eastern, Mediterranean cuisines all serve variations of kofta.  Kofta, kefta, kafta…it’s sometimes spelled differently depending on which region of the world is making it but the basic concept remains the same: flavorful meat patties or meatballs. 

Kafta bi-siniyyeh is only one variation of baking it with potatoes and tomatoes.  

 

For kofta mixture: 

1 onion 

2 cloves of garlic 

1/2 bunch of parsley 

500gr. ground beef ( Or better if half is ground lamb ) 

1 tsp salt 

1/2 tsp each cayenne pepper and cumin 

1/2 tsp black pepper 

3 tbsp water 

2 tbsp olive oil 

For veggies: 

3-4 medium same size potato 

2-3 tomatoes and green peppers 

For the tomato sauce: 

2 tbsp olive oil 

1 heaped tbsp tomato paste 

2 cups or more hot water 

 

INSTRUCTIONS 

 

Preparing Koftas: 

For the kofta mixture; add 4 onions and garlic. Process them until they are very small pieces. 

And after processing, add ground beef, parsley, salt, black pepper, cumin and cayenne pepper. 

To make the meatballs a little softer, add some water and olive oil. And process them until you get a well combined kofta mixture. 

Shape the meatballs at the same size of potato and veggie slices 

Slicing Veggies and Assembling: 

Slice the potatoes and tomatoes in about 2 cm thickness. 

Assemble koftas and veggies in a medium size tray. But using a round tray isn’t necessary. You can use a rectangular oven safe pan too. 

If your peppers are thick cut them in 2 pieces. And then put them on top of the koftas and veggies. 

Making Tomato Sauce: 

In a medium size pan, heat 2 tbsp olive oil. Then add tomato paste and stir them together until they are combined. And after 3-4 minutes, add hot water to make a thick sauce. And simmer 2-3 more minutes and turn off the heat. 

Pour the tomato sauce all over the koftas and veggies. And bake at a temperature of  200 degrees celsius in an  oven for 45-60 minutes.

 

 

Lara khouli