Jamie Magazine
By Maddie Rix
Turkey kofte
1 hr 50 mins plus chilling
Showing Off
serves 4
Recipe From
Ingredients
TURKEY KOFTE
1 large courgette
2 spring onions
1 fresh green chilli
50g shelled pistachios
3 sprigs of fresh coriander
3 sprigs of fresh flat-leaf parsley
3 sprigs of fresh mint
¼ teaspoon cumin seeds
1 large free-range egg
500g free-range minced turkey
½ teaspoon dried oregano
CHILLI SAUCE
4 ripe tomatoes
2 small onions
4 cloves of garlic
4 fresh red chillies
olive oil
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons tomato purée
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
TAHINI YOGHURT
250g Greek yoghurt
1 tablespoon tahini
1 squeeze of lemon juice
TURKISH PILAV
1 onion
2 cloves of garlic
200g bulgur wheat
400ml hot organic chicken stock
1 knob of unsalted butter
80g broken rice vermicelli
100g tinned chickpeas (drained weight)
Method
- Finely grate the courgette, trim and finely chop the spring onions and green chilli, then chop the pistachios. Pick and finely chop all the fresh herbs.
- Toast the cumin seeds in a dry pan until smelling fantastic. Meanwhile, lightly beat the egg.
- Mix all the kofte ingredients together in a large bowl, keeping some pistachios back to garnish, then season well.
- With wet hands, form 16 kofte, each the size and shape of a small egg. Leave in the fridge to firm up for at least 30 minutes, then thread onto metal skewers, two kofte on each.
- Cook the kofte under a grill or over a flame charcoal grill, on high for 12 minutes, until juicy, golden brown and cooked through, turning regularly.
- Preheat the oven to 180ºC/gas 4.
- To make the chilli sauce, halve the tomatoes and onions (there's no need to peel), and bash the unpeeled garlic cloves.
- Place the red chillies, tomatoes, onions and garlic on a baking tray. Drizzle with oil and season, then roast for 25 minutes or until soft and slightly blackened.
- Allow to cool slightly, then carefully remove and discard the stalks from the chillies, the cores from the tomatoes and the skins from the onions and garlic.
- Add to a food processor, along with the sugar, tomato purée and vinegar. Blitz until smooth and add a lug of oil to make it glossy. Pulse again, then season.
- For the tahini yoghurt, mix all the ingredients in a bowl and season with a pinch each of sea salt and black pepper.
- To make the pilav, peel and finely chop the onion and garlic. Add a lug of oil to a non-stick pan over a medium-low heat, then sweat the onion and garlic for 10 minutes. Add the bulgur and stir to coat.
- Pour in the stock, bring it to the boil, then turn down the heat to very low. Cover with a lid and steam the bulgur for 8 minutes.
- Meanwhile, in a separate pan, melt the butter and cook the vermicelli until the butter turns golden brown.
- After 8 minutes, add it to the bulgur along with the chickpeas – don’t stir at any point, just replace the cloth and lid and let it steam for another 8 minutes.
- Turn off the heat and let it stand for 5 minutes – you should end up with a beautifully light and fluffy pilav.
- Serve the kofte accompanied by the pilav, chilli sauce and tahini yoghurt, then finish scattered with the reserved pistachios.
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