This is (apparently) a Jamie Oliver inspired recipe that a colleague gave to me, which she’d put her own spin on. Well, I’ve bastardized it even further… So you could almost say it’s unique. Almost. It’s amazing. Another rare dish the whole family likes, though you’ll see from the photo our fussy Small Child prefers his kofta without the honey and nuts! I platter this main meal up with a few extras: Diced feta, a simple green salad, diced cucumber with chopped up tomato and a quick drizzle of lime infused olive oil. One of the reasons I love this meal is you can prepare it ahead of time, all you need to do is do the koftas at the last minute. This is quick enough to do for a extra-special week night dinner, or fancy enough to wow visitors. You choose.
Ingredients:
For the koftas
400g lamb mince
1/2 red onion – grated
3 cloves crushed garlic
1/2 c chopped fresh herbs (I used a mix of coriander, mint and parsley!)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tlb tomato paste
1/2 c fresh breadcrumbs
1 egg (lightly whisked)
1/2 tsp salt
Freshly ground black pepper
For everything else
Olive oil
1 courgette
Small bunch of mint
1 fresh red chili
Small packet of shelled pistachio nuts (get them from the baking aisle)
Juice of ½ a lime
2 Tlb runny honey (or just use hard stuff, placed in a small dish and warm it up in the microwave)
1 medium pot of natural yogurt
1-2 Tlb sweet chilli sauce
1 Packet of wholemeal pitta breads
- Prepare a large plate by lining it with plastic wrap
- Combine all the kofta ingredients in a large bowl and stir until evenly combined (Tip: Use your hands to do this, it’s way quicker!)
- Divide the mixture into sausage sized portions. Place on prepared plate and cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 15 minutes
- After 15 minutes, heat two tablespoons of olive oil in a large frying pan. Add the kofta and cook, turning occasionally, for about 7 minutes or until evenly cooked through. Once cooked, transfer to a plate lined with a kitchen towel to absorb any excess oil
- Grind the pistachio nuts and then put them to one side
- Grate the courgettes and finely chop the chili & mint leaves. Scoop up and cup the grated courgette in your hands and squeeze out the water. Mix the grated courgette together with the mint and chilli in a bowl and squeeze in the lime juice
- Pour the natural yogurt out into a small dish and add a tablespoon (or two) of sweet sauce and swirl it around with a spoon to create a marbled effect. Place in a small rameki
- Put the pitta breads into toaster for 30 secs then cut in half – put these onto a serving platter
- Put the runny honey in the microwave for 10 secs and then pour it onto a clean plate
- Scatter the ground pistachio nuts onto another plate
- Take the cooked Koftas and roll them in the honey, coating all sides. Then roll the honey-coated Koftas into the ground pistachio nuts…
- To eat – stuff pitta breads with kofta (and anything else you like), drizzle over the yogurt dressing and top with courgette salad
- Try not go to back for a third helping…
