Kubbe in a pan/Lebanese Meat Pie

Tamiri

Tue, Aug 19 2008, 4:03 am

I am translating this from Hebrew. The measurements are for Israeli cup measures but I don't think it will make a big diff if you use U.S. cup measures in this recipe (as opposed to baking recipes)

Ingredients for dough:

2 cups fine burgul, soaked in cold water for 20 minutes, drained and squeezed from water
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1/2 cup flour
salt and coarse ground pepper

Ingredients for filling:

3 Tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, finely chopped
800 grams (30 oz.) coarsely chopped lamb meat with a bit of fat (we use regular chopped meat)
salt
black pepper
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 cup toasted pignolia nuts
1 cup finely chopped parsley

Preparation:

Knead the dough ingredients until an elastic dough is formed, with the texture of modeling clay. If the dough is too thin, add a bit of flour. Divide dough into 2 parts; cover with plastic wrap and cool for about 15 minutes.
In a hot pan, saute onion in olive oil. Add the meat; season with salt, black pepper and allspice and cook 4-5 minutes. It's very important not to let the meat dry out!!!!
Remove from flame; add pignolias and parsley. Mix well and set aside until meat cools.
Generously oil a round 24 cm (between 9-10 inch) pan/pie plate. Take one half of the dough and, with your hands, spread evenly on the bottom of the pan to a thickness of 1/2 cm (very thin). Sprinkle the meat mixture onto the dough; spread the other half of the dough over the meat.
Generously brush dough with olive oil to prevent drying out during baking.
Bake in 350 F oven (180 C) for about 25 minutes, until golden.
Slice into large triangles. Serve warm or room temperature, with a bit of tehina on the side and a salad of tomatoes and cilantro.

TheBeinoni

Tue, Aug 19 2008, 6:38 pm

WOW! Tamiri - I knew you know all the "Israeli" stuff like the salatim, and also Moroccan fish.. but this just earned you 3 more gold stars in my book! Very Happy

YUMM! It looks authentic too! Smile

Tamiri

Sat, Aug 23 2008, 1:57 pm

Buy the finest bulgur you can. I bought "dak" (thin) and it wasn't quite thin enough, though it worked perfectly. The dough will be doughier and more like modeling clay if you use finer bulgur.
I bought beef ground with a bit of lamb fat to get that authentic taste. If I say so myself, this is a phenomenal dish and very easy to make. I got the recipe from my mother who got it from some paper. If you make it, plan on company as you can easily get 10 or more servings from it. Served with home-made (you add your seasonings to whole grain sesame) tehina, it's a delicacy. I even bought less meat than it calls for (550 grams including fat instead of 800 grams) and it was more than sufficient. This one is a keeper.

PIP

Wed, Aug 27 2008, 7:53 pm

Kibbeh Seniyeh! My husband's favorite! (His mother's recipe of course...)

mommalah

Wed, Aug 27 2008, 8:11 pm

OK, I made this last shabbos. I only had reg. bulgur (didn't know of fine bulgur). So obviously it didn't become doughy or clay like. I thought it would be a total bomb, but DH came home on Friday afternoon and ate like a quarter of it. The flavor was awesome. My dh and I loved it the messed up way it came out. I am now on the lookout for fine bulgur so I can make it the right way. Thanks for a great recipe.

jemappelle

Thu, Oct 02 2008, 11:26 pm

very good recipe for kibbe siniyeh in aromas of allepo

mimivan

Thu, Oct 02 2008, 11:58 pm

Looks great...now I am in search of fine bulgur...

Tamiri

Fri, Oct 03 2008, 12:46 am

Mimi, they have it here. Buy the "dak" and then process it in your processor. The "dak" is fine also without processing, but if you processes it... I don't know. Maybe it's better.

mimivan

Fri, Oct 03 2008, 12:48 am

I can't wait to try it!

saw50st8

Fri, May 28 2010, 7:56 am

Wow Tamiri, this sounds awesome. I'm going to try it this week if I can.

Mrs Bissli

Fri, May 28 2010, 12:56 pm

SO much easier than those potentially exploding torpedos that you need to deep-fry. The most important bit, make sure you get the correct (fine) bulgher. Otherwise the dough will collapse.

ulimom

Sun, Jul 11 2010, 3:41 pm

ive only seen one kind in the stores....
what is fine burgul exactly? I have the tabouli sized one...is that fine enough?

LeoRafi

Tue, May 10 2011, 11:09 pm

what section in the supermarket can I find fine bulgar? what type of container am I looking for?

Tamiri

Wed, May 11 2011, 12:28 am

If they don't have it in your supermarket, as they do in Israel, you may want to look in a shop such as Whole Foods, which is where I used to buy it. In Israel you can buy it pre packaged in a bag. At Whole Foods it is (was, when I lived in the U.S.) sold by weight from a bin and you buy what you want.

curlgirl

Wed, May 11 2011, 12:55 am

I think in Israel it's called "Gerish" (ג'ריש).

willow

Sun, Jun 26 2011, 12:47 pm

Can I make and freeze this?

Tamiri

Sun, Jun 26 2011, 12:48 pm

willow wrote:

Can I make and freeze this?

I don't see why not

yo'ma

Sun, Jun 26 2011, 2:35 pm

I buy the individual ones frozen all the time.