We hosted today the last in the summer cooking workshops: 'The best of Libaliano'. We named it this way, not because our recipes cannot get any better but because we have picked key dishes from the Italian and Lebanese kitchens: kibbe and spaghetti al pomodoro.
With a twist to traditional pasta, we rolled spaghetti with slices of grilled aubergines.
We formed basic kibbe dough like a sausage, stuffed it with pistachios and baked it.We then sliced it into rounds and served it with courgette fatte. Substantial and light kibbe roll is great in a picnic.
Aubergine and Spaghetti Rolls
200 g spaghetti
2 large aubergines
2 tablespoons dried oregano
1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
1 garlic clove, peeled, core removed and finely chopped
500 g fresh tomatoes, skinned and seeded
4 generous tablespoons of freshly grated Parmesan
1 mozzarella, diced
Fresh basil leaves
Sea salt
Black pepper
Black pepper
Extra virgin oil
Serves 5 to 6
Serves 5 to 6
- Slice the aubergines lengthwise, about ½ cm thick and grill them for 2 to 3 minutes on both sides in a heavy based griddle.
- Arrange the aubergine slices in a dish, sprinkle them with salt and oregano and a drizzle 2 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil. Set aside.
- In a pan, heat 2 tablespoons of oil and sauté the onion over low heat for 10 minutes.
- Add garlic and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the chopped tomatoes, season with salt and cook over low heat, covered, for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C.
- In a large pot, bring plenty of water to the boil. Add salt and cook spaghetti al dente. Strain through a colander and reserve 50 ml of cooking water.
- mix the reserved cooking water with a third of it quantity in oil.
- Return spaghetti to the pan and add the water and oil mix. Toss and dress with half of the tomato sauce. Remove from the heat and sprinkle with 2 tablespoons of Parmesan.
- Using a fork, arrange spaghetti over each aubergine slice. Dot with 2 to 3 die of mozzarella and roll. Place each roll in an oven dish. Repeat until you finished all the ingredients.
- Arrange the remaining tomato sauce on top of the aubergine rolls. Sprinkle with Parmesan and bake for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Garnish with mozzarella and basil.
- Serve warm.
Kibbe and pistachio roll
500 g minced steak
250 g burghol
1 small onion
1 tablespoon mint leaves
½ teaspoon black pepper
½ teaspoon allspice
1 teaspoon salt
100 ml light olive oil
100 g pistachios
Cooking time: 20 minutes
Preparation time: 45 minutes
Serves 8
- Place the meat in a dish and leave in the freezer for 15 minutes. In a food processor place the onion and spices and mint and process to a puree.
- Take the meat out of the freezer and process in a mixer together with the onion puree. Keep blending until you get a homogenous dough-like mixture. The meat should be sticky and a dark pink colour. It should also have an even colour and a uniform texture. If you can see darker particles, this means that the meat has not been ground thoroughly. Process a while longer. Transfer to a large mixing bowl when ready.
- Wash burghol and strain. Using your hands knead the burghol and meat mixture until well combined.
- Divide the meat in two portions.
- Oil a large baking sheet and place it on a work surface.
- Spread one part of the meat onto the baking sheet.
- Flatten the meat with your hands to make a rectangular shape about 1 cm thick. Place the pistachios in the middle.
- Hold and lift the wider side of the baking sheet and gradually roll the meat over until you form a sausage-like shape. Make sure that the baking sheet is not rolled in the meat.
- Twist the ends to secure the paper in place and cover with aluminium foil.
- Repeat with the remaining meat.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C and bake in the centre oven for 10 minutes; take out of the oven, remove both wrappings and bake for further 10 minutes.
- Take out of the oven leave to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
- Serve warm sliced into rounds with yogurt or salad.
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