KAFTA AND BATATA
KAFTA AND BATATA
Kafta and Batata is hearty Lebanese dish typically enjoyed at home. When sounding off top five dishes with your Lebanese compatriot, Kafta and Batata will always be in the running. I can even bet it’s included in the Lebanese Basket of Goods when calculating the consumer price index.
It’s also your ideal starter recipe into the Lebanese cuisine. If you’re looking to impress your lady, show your mother you’re independent or bid adieu to delivery platforms (at least one night a week), this is your dish.
Instead of recipe, I’m going to say assembly plan, because all you have to do is assemble everything in a pot.
Kafta and Batata includes spiced beef patties, soft potatoes, hearty tomato sauce and roasted onions.
Getting down to the specifics, Kafta is a Lebanese beef patty made from combining minced meat with spices, onions and parsley. Traditionally Kafta was made exclusively from lamb meat, but over time, a lot of families have swapped the lamb meat for cow’s meat for a more subtle taste. As a start, you can purchase Kafta from your local butcher and in the future I’ll be teaching you how to make it from scratch.
After readying your ingredients, you’re tasked with assembling them in a deep pot. First the Kafta patties, then the potatoes, next the tomatoes, followed by the onions and finally the tomato puree. Slide her into the over for 30 minutes and enjoy the different smells ripening.
The tomatoes turn from fresh and bright red to complex and blood red. The potatoes, starchy and perky at first, turn into soft, loved-up pulp. The onions, which I like extra cooked and even burnt, caramelize. And because the Kafta is at the bottom, it absorbs all the layers of flavor into the tender meat.
Out of the oven Kafta and Batata looks like a deep mature sunset ready for you to romance with.
Check out Kafta and Batata the Movie below!
DETAILS
A hearty lunch/dinner dish made from meat patties, potatoes, tomatoes and onions with a prep time of 30 minutes and cook time of 30 minutes.
INGREDIENTS
500 grams of Kafta from your butcher
4 potatoes, pealed and sliced (into potato circles)
2 medium tomatoes slices (in to tomato circles)
1 large onion sliced into onion rings
2 large tomatoes grated (with a cheese grater) to form a puree. Add ½ cup of water if needed.
2 table spoons olive oil.
2 large pinches of salt.
METHOD
Preheat your oven to 200 decrees Celsius.
Oil a baking tray and line it with the potato slices. Sprinkle with oil and bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Once cooked, the potatoes will start to become golden.
Grab a Ping-Pong ball size of Kafta. Work the meat it in your hands to soften and form a patty as large as the palm of your hand. You should have around 8 patties.
Oil a baking tray and line with the Kafta patties. Sprinkle with oil and bake in the oven for 10 minutes. Once cooked, the Kafta patties shrink and release their fats.
You can bake the potatoes and Kafta at the same time.
In a deep pot, which can be placed in the oven, line the bottom with first the cooked Kafta patties, second the cooked potato slices, third the tomato slices and finally the onion rings. Pour over the tomato puree.
Place in the oven for 30 minutes at 200 degrees Celsius until all the ingredients are tender.
If you like, broil for 5 minutes to get the onions extra crispy.
KAFTA and BATATA the MOVIE
Video, Photography, Recipe, Food Styling, Prop Styling by: TALA SOUBRA
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