Grilled köfte (Turkish meatballs)

Name: Grilled köfte (Turkish meatballs)
Cook time: 75 min
Total time: 75 min
Yield: 4
Cuisine: Turca
Ingredients: 2 tablespoons Olive oil; 2 u Tomato; 1 u Onion; 2 cloves Garlic; 1 u Lemon; 1.5 teaspoons Salt; 0.5 teaspoons Black pepper; 1 u Red Onions; 300 g Lamb Mince; 1.5 teaspoons Pul Biber; 1.5 teaspoons Ground Cumin; 4 u Green Pepper; 300 g Ground Beef; 1 bunch Parsley; 250 g Greek Yogurt; 30 g Breadcrumbs; 4 u Pita Bread; 2 teaspoons Sumac

Köfte a la parrilla

Easy

Incomplete allergen information: some ingredients have not been reviewed yet. Always check the labels before cooking.

Author: Equipo Cocinoa
Preparation time: 75 min
Servings: 4

Summary

The köfte of Turkish grill houses: minced lamb and beef with grated onion, garlic, parsley and cumin, shaped into ovals and cooked on a griddle or over charcoal. Served with an onion and sumac salad, grilled peppers, flatbread and yoghurt.

Ingredients

4 servings

Add to Bring!

2 tablespoons Olive oil (for the griddle and the salad)
2 u Tomato (halved, for grilling)
1 u Onion (medium, grated)
2 cloves Garlic (finely chopped)
1 u Lemon (half for the salad, the rest in wedges to serve)
1.5 teaspoons Salt (for the meat, plus a little for the salad)
0.5 teaspoons Black pepper (ground)
1 u Red Onions (for the salad)
300 g Lamb Mince (not too lean)
1.5 teaspoons Pul Biber (or sweet paprika with a pinch of chilli)
1.5 teaspoons Ground Cumin
4 u Green Pepper (long thin ones (Italian frying or Turkish sivri), for grilling)
300 g Ground Beef (beef, 15–20% fat)
1 bunch Parsley (flat-leaf, finely chopped: two thirds for the meat and the rest for the salad)
250 g Greek Yogurt (or thick plain yoghurt, to serve)
30 g Breadcrumbs (or stale breadcrumb soaked and squeezed dry)
4 u Pita Bread (or Turkish flatbread (pide or lavaş))
2 teaspoons Sumac (for the salad)

Instructions

Grate the onion and put it in a sieve or a clean tea towel. Squeeze hard to remove as much juice as you can: if it stays in the mixture, the köfte will be soft and fall apart.
5 min
Put both meats, the squeezed onion, garlic, two thirds of the parsley, cumin, pul biber, breadcrumbs, salt and pepper in a bowl. Knead with your hands for 3–4 minutes, squeezing and folding, until the mixture turns sticky and comes away from the bowl in one piece.
5 min
Cover the bowl and chill for at least 30 minutes, or overnight, so the mixture firms up and is easier to shape.
30 min
Meanwhile, make the salad: slice the red onion into very thin half-moons, put it in a bowl with a pinch of salt and the sumac and rub it with your fingers to soften. Add the rest of the parsley, the juice of half the lemon and a drizzle of oil and toss.
5 min
With damp hands, divide the mixture into 12 portions and shape them into flattened ovals about 8 cm long and 1.5 cm thick. Press a slight dip into the centre with your finger so they don't puff up as they cook.
10 min
Get a griddle, cast-iron pan or barbecue very hot and brush it with a little oil. Grill the peppers and tomatoes, turning, until the skins are charred and blistered. Keep them warm.
10 min
Lay the köfte on the griddle without crowding and leave them until they release on their own and have browned grill marks. Turn and cook the other side until cooked through with no trace of pink.
8 min
Warm the bread on the griddle for a few seconds. Serve the köfte with the grilled peppers and tomatoes, the onion salad, yoghurt, lemon wedges and bread.
2 min

Notes

Izgara köfte simply means grilled meatballs, and they are the star of the köfteci, the Turkish restaurants that specialise in them; many towns have their own version, such as those from İnegöl or Tekirdağ. The tradition is to mix lamb and beef with some fat, around 20%: very lean meat makes them dry and crumbly. Squeezing the grated onion well and kneading until the mixture turns sticky is what stops them breaking on the grill. They are even better over charcoal; if you cook them that way, thread them onto flat skewers or use a hinged grill basket. Minced meat must be cooked right through, to 71 °C in the centre with no trace of pink, because mincing carries surface bacteria inside. In köfteci they nearly always come with piyaz, a white bean salad with onion, parsley and vinegar, which you can add for a more substantial meal. For a gluten-free version, leave out the breadcrumbs and serve with rice instead of bread. Shaped and uncooked, they freeze very well, separated with baking paper, for up to 3 months; thaw them in the fridge. Cooked, they keep for 2 days in the fridge.