Beef Kibbeh

Ingredientes

1 medium yellow onion, peeled

½ cup fine bulgur (see headnote)

Kosher salt and ground black pepper

12 ounces 85 percent lean ground beef

1 large egg, beaten

¼ cup pine nuts, toasted and chopped

¾ teaspoon ground allspice

¾ teaspoon ground cardamom

¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon

¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

6 medium garlic cloves, finely grated

1 cup whole-milk plain yogurt

1 cup lightly packed fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped

¼ cup tahini

4 tablespoons grapeseed or other neutral oil, divided

Lemon wedges, to serve

Instruções

1. Grate the onion on the large holes of a box grater, catching the pulp and liquid in a medium bowl. Stir in the bulgur and 2 teaspoons salt. Set aside for 10 minutes, until the bulgur has absorbed the onion liquid and is slightly softened.

2. Add the beef, egg, pine nuts, allspice, cardamom, cinnamon, cayenne, 1 teaspoon black pepper and ⅔ of the grated garlic. Knead with your hands or mix vigorously with a wooden spoon until well combined, then cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes.

3. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, whisk together the yogurt, parsley, tahini, ½ teaspoon salt, ¼ teaspoon black pepper and the remaining garlic. Set aside until ready to serve.

4. Line a rimmed baking sheet with kitchen parchment. Using your hands, form the bulgur-beef mixture into 12 balls (about 2 heaping tablespoons each) and place on the prepared baking sheet. Using your hands, flatten the balls into ½-inch-thick patties about 2½ inches in diameter.

5. In a 12-inch skillet over medium, heat 2 tablespoons of oil until barely smoking. Add half the patties and cook undisturbed until browned and crisp on the bottoms, about 4 minutes. Flip and continue to cook until the second sides are browned and crisp, about another 4 minutes, then transfer to a plate. Wipe out the skillet with paper towels and repeat with the remaining oil and patties. Serve with the yogurt-tahini sauce and lemon wedges.

Notas

Don’t use coarse bulgur. Fine bulgur, with particles that are very small and flaky, is key for yielding a mixture that holds together when formed into patties. If you can’t find fine bulgur, process coarse bulgur in a spice grinder for 10 to 30 seconds. If the bulgur-meat mixture is very sticky or wet when you attempt to shape it, refrigerate for an additional 10 minutes to allow the bulgur to soak up more moisture.

Kibbeh, a popular dish throughout the Levant, is a spiced mixture of bulgur and ground meat. It may be layered with stuffing in a baking dish and baked, or shaped into small portions, filled and fried, with the goal of getting a toasty, browned crust that brings out the nuttiness of the bulgur. In this version, we skip the stuffing and form the mixture into patties, then pan-fry them, rather than deep-fry, for ease. We use ground beef, but you could substitute 12 ounces of ground lamb. Pine nuts add their distinct, slightly resinous flavor to the mix. Toast them in a small skillet over medium-low, shaking the pan frequently, until light golden brown and fragrant, about 4 minutes. Serve the kibbeh, yogurt-tahini sauce and lemon wedges for squeezing with warmed flatbread.