Turkish Crunchy Red Lentil Kofte with Fresh Mint

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Turkish Crunchy Red Lentil Kofte with Fresh Mint

 

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Serving Size : 5 Preparation Time :0:00

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Amount Measure Ingredient -- Preparation Method

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2 ounces butter

1 small red onion -- finely chopped

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 tablespoon mild Turkish red pepper paste -- or harissa

1 teaspoon ground cumin -- heaped

4 ounces red lentils

1 1/2 cups water

1/2 cup fine bulgur

2 tablespoons shredded mint leaves

1 teaspoon dried mint -- heaped

sea salt

freshly ground black pepper

juice of 1 lemon

3 ounces extra-virgin olive oil

1 romaine lettuce -- washed

6 baby salad onions

 

Melt the butter in a heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat and add the onion,

tomato paste, pepper paste and cumin. Saute for a few minutes until the onions

starts to soften, then add the lentils and water and bring to the boil. Lower

the heat and simmer gently for 10 minutes, or until the lentils are tender and

have absorbed two-thirds of the water. Stir in the bulgur and fresh and dried

mint and season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove the pan from the heat and

leave to stand for 5 minutes, then stir in half the lemon juice and 2

tablespoons of the oil. Put the mixture onto a tray to cool.

 

When ready to serve, whisk the remaining lemon juice and oil to make a dressing

and season with salt and pepper. Form the cooled lentil mixture into little

patties and use your thumb to make an indentation in the surface of each.

Arrange the kofte on a platter with the lettuce leaves and onions, then drizzle

over the dressing.

 

Serves 4 to 6.

 

The inspiration for these little kofte comes from Yorem Mutfak, a lovely

homestyle restaurant in Gaziantep. Rather unusually, the owner and chef is a

woman, the charming and friendly Hatice Yildirim, who told us she'd been cooking

for twenty-five years. We fell in love with these patties immediately; they are

spicy with a lovely crunch from the bulgur. Hatice served them on baby lettuce

leaves with wedges of lemon and green onions as part of a meze selection. You'll

find the red pepper paste used here in Middle Eastern food stores.

 

Turkish Red Pepper Paste

4 long sweet red peppers

2 long red chile peppers

1 teaspoon pomegranate molasses

1/2 teaspoon dried mint

2 tablespoons shredded mint leaves

2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

2 green onions, finely diced

1 small Persian cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced

juice of 1 lemon

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

 

 

 

 

Preheat the oven to 400F. Roast the peppers and seeded chiles for 20 minutes on

a foil-lined jelly-roll pan, turning once, until the skins blister and char.

Remove from the oven and leave to cool.

 

When cool enough to handle, peel the skins away form the peppers and pull away

the seeds and membranes. Roughly chop the peppers and put into a blender. Use a

sharp knife to scrape the flesh of the chiles away from the skins - this is

easier than trying to peel them. Add the chile flesh to the blender wit the

remaining ingredients. Whiz to a fine puree, then taste and adjust the balance

of salt and lemon if necessary. Chill, covered, until ready to eat. This dip

will keep for up to 3 days.

 

Serves 4 to 6.

 

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 84 Calories; 6g Fat (55.4% calories from

fat); 2g Protein; 8g Carbohydrate; 3g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 385mg

Sodium. Exchanges: 0 Grain(Starch); 1 Vegetable; 1 Fat; 0 Other Carbohydrates.

 

Source:

" Turquoise: A Chef's Travels in Turkey by Greg and Lucy Malouf, 2009 "

S(Formatted by Chupa Babi):

" Jan 2010 "

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

 

Per Serving (excluding unknown items): 448 Calories; 27g Fat (52.4% calories

from fat); 13g Protein; 43g Carbohydrate; 15g Dietary Fiber; 25mg Cholesterol;

147mg Sodium. Exchanges: 1 1/2 Grain(Starch); 1/2 Lean Meat; 3 1/2 Vegetable; 5

1/2 Fat.

 

 

Nutr. Assoc. : 0 0 0 26564 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 902305