Levant: Recipes and memories from the Middle East. Anissa Helou
it with the carrot and pea stew.
Serves 6
25g (1oz) unsalted butter
30g (1oz) dried vermicelli, broken into pieces about 2cm (¾in) long
200g (7oz) white short-grain white rice (bomba, Calasparra or Egyptian), rinsed under cold water and drained
Sea salt
Melt the butter in a saucepan over a medium heat. Add the vermicelli and fry, stirring constantly, until the pasta is golden brown. Add the rice and mix well.
Pour in 400ml (14fl oz) of water and season with salt. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat to low, cover the pan with a lid and simmer for 15 minutes or until the rice is done and the water completely absorbed. Wrap the lid in a clean tea towel, replace over the pan and leave to sit for 5 minutes. Serve hot.
Kibbeh Pie
KIBBEH BIL-SANIYEH
Sadly, I have just lost my Lebanese butcher in London who prepared the mince for my kibbeh. Taken from a leg of lamb that is first boned, skinned and trimmed of fat, the meat is passed twice through the fine attachment of a meat grinder. It seems a crime to mince meat from such a luxurious joint, but minced meat is not considered a cheap option in the Levant. Quite the opposite. Some of the most celebratory dishes, including kibbeh, are made with it, and the meat for these dishes is always chosen from a very lean part, namely the top of the leg. The fillet is normally reserved for kebabs (see here) or to make bastirma (a type of spiced cured meat). There are dozens of different ways of preparing kibbeh; this is one of my favourites.
Serves 4–6
For the stuffing
60g (2oz) pine nuts
200g (7oz) lamb from the leg, boned, skinned and trimmed of fat
60g (2oz) unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
5 medium-sized onions (about 500g/1lb 1oz total weight), peeled and finely chopped
1 tsp pomegranate syrup
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground allspice or Lebanese seven-spice mixture
½ tsp finely ground black pepper
Sea salt
For the kibbeh
500g (1lb 1oz) lamb from the leg, boned, skinned and trimmed of fat
1 medium-sized onion, peeled and quartered
2 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp ground allspice or Lebanese seven-spice mixture
½ tsp finely ground black pepper
200g (7oz) fine burghul, rinsed under cold water and drained
Baking dish measuring 25cm (10in) in diameter and 5cm (2in) deep
To make the stuffing, first preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F), gas mark 7.
Spread the pine nuts on a non-stick baking sheet and toast in the oven for 5–7 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and set aside. Leave the oven switched on for baking the pie, reducing the heat to 200°C (400°F), gas mark 6.
To prepare the meat for the stuffing and the kibbeh, first put the lamb through a fine mincer, or ask your butcher to do this for you, if you prefer. You can mince the meat in a blender but you have to be careful not to process it too much or it will become too smooth and not only lose texture but also be more difficult to shape, especially if you are making kibbeh balls. Once you have minced the lamb, drag a serrated knife through the meat to catch any sizeable bits of ligament. Wipe these off the blade and drag the knife through the meat a few more times until you stop picking up any further pieces.
Melt the butter in a large frying pan. Add the chopped onions and fry, stirring regularly, until lightly golden. Add 200g (7oz) of minced lamb and cook – mashing and stirring it with a wooden spoon or fork to break up the lumps – until it loses all traces of pink. Take off the heat and add the pomegranate syrup. Season with the spices and a little salt, then stir in the toasted pine nuts. Pinch off a little of the mixture and sear in a hot pan to taste, then adjust the seasoning if necessary.
Next make the kibbeh. Put the quartered onion in a blender and process until completely pulverised. Add the remaining 500g (1lb 1oz) of minced meat, along with the spices and a little salt, and blend until smooth. If your blender is not big enough to take the onion and meat in one go, process them in two equal-sized batches. Prepare a bowl of lightly salted cold water and have it to hand before transferring the meat to a mixing bowl.
Add the burghul to the meat and mix together with your hand, dipping it every now and then in the salted water to moisten your hand and add a little water to the kibbeh to soften it. Knead for about 3 minutes or until you have a smooth mixture. Pinch off a little of the kibbeh and sear in a hot pan to taste, adjusting the seasoning if necessary.
Grease the baking dish with a knob of butter and divide the kibbeh into two equal-sized pieces. Moisten your hands in the salted water and pinch off a handful of kibbeh from one piece. Flatten it between your palms, to a thickness of about 5mm (¼in), and place it on the bottom of the baking dish, along one side. Smooth it down evenly with your fingers. Pinch off another handful from the same piece, flatten and lay next to the first piece, slightly overlapping it. Dip your fingers in the water and smooth the pieces together until the joint disappears, to ensure that they don’t come apart during cooking. Continue the above process until you have finished the first half of kibbeh and covered the bottom of the dish. Then go over the whole layer with moistened fingers to even it out.
Spread the stuffing evenly over the kibbeh and then lay the other half of the kibbeh over the stuffing in the same way as above. You might find the top layer slightly more difficult to do as you will be laying it over the loose stuffing instead of the smooth surface of the baking dish, but you will soon get the hang of it.
Cut the pie into quarters, then with a sharp knife make shallow incisions to draw a geometric pattern – such as small lozenges, squares or thin stripes – across the top of each quarter. The decorative work is time consuming and can be omitted without affecting the taste, although the presentation will not be so attractive or as traditional. After you have finished decorating the pie, make a hole in the middle with your finger, going all the way through. Place a knob of butter over the hole and one on each quarter of the pie.
Bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Let the pie sit for a few minutes before serving hot with a yoghurt and cucumber dip.
Kibbeh Balls in Yoghurt Sauce
KIBBEH BI-LABNIYEH
Kibbeh freezes very well. You could make the balls well ahead of time and freeze them, so that all you have to do on the day is to make the yoghurt sauce. Before serving, drop the just-thawed kibbeh balls into the hot yoghurt, where they will cook in minutes. You can also vary the sauce by replacing the coriander with fresh or dried mint, for which you will need 30g (1oz) of the fresh leaves, finely chopped, or 3 tablespoons of the dried herb. I very rarely use mint in my yoghurt sauce as I like the taste of coriander and find that it works with both the cooked yoghurt and the various meats or stuffed vegetables that are cooked in the sauce.
Serves 4–6
1 quantity of cooked kibbeh
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