What is sumac? Do you know? And can you get it in your local supermarket or the deli round the corner? In our house, B is the other cook and he has a range of standards; he does a great tuna pasta, bolognese, cottage pie and a mean lamb chop among others. But every now and then he decides to try a new and usually quite unusual recipe. So this is one he cooked this weekend (an Ottolenghi recipe)and it took most of Saturday driving round to find the essential ingredient - sumac- which it turns out is only needed, in fact, to sprinkle on top at the end. Still, all the weekend magazine cooks have mentioned it recently so it must be the new thing.
This makes a type of pie, with Middle Eastern flavours, and despite the long list of ingredients including some things you might need to buy, it is easy and effective. It feeds at least 6 and a salad alongside would be good.
Open Kibbeh
125 g fine bulgur wheat
olive oil
2 cloves garlic crushed
2 onions chopped finely
1 green chilli chopped
350g lamb mince
1tsp allspice
1tsp cinammon
1 tsp ground coriander
2 tbs fresh coriander
60g pine nuts
3 tbs parsley
2 tbs SR flour
S& P
50g tahini
2 tsp lemon juice
1 tsp sumac!
Oven at No 4
Line a loose bottomed 20 cm cake tin with greaseproof.
- Put the bulgur in a bowl, cover with 200ml tap water and leave 30 mins.
- Saute the onion, garlic and chilli in oil till soft. Tip out and put the lamb in, then increase the heat to brown it. Cook 5 mins, stirring.
- Put the onion mix back in, and add the spices, with most of the pine nuts and the chopped parsley. Cook a few mins.
- Taste and adjust the seasoning.
- Check that all the water has been absorbed by the bulgur, add flour, a tbs oil, S&P, and then squeeze with your hands to a pliable mixture.
- Push this firmly into the base of the prepared tin.
- Sread the meat mixture over this and bake 20 mins til it is brown.
- Now whisk the tahini, lemon juice, 50 ml of water and a pinch of salt into a thick sauce.
- Spread this over your kibbeh, sprinkle on the last of the pine nuts and parsley and return to the oven for 10 mins or until the top is just set.
- Leave to cool down so that it is warm when you serve it.
- Before serving, take it out of the tin and drizzle with olive oil and - the sumac.
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