Hi all! Well, I disappeared. Again. For over a year. Life just happens sometimes. But guess what?! I’M BACK! And with a little bit of a refreshed look to the blog. And with a bunch of post ideas! So that means I will be back to posting as regularly as possible. With that quick little update, let’s get to our welcome back post.
This post is actually a contribution post from our very own Jamie. Yes, this Jamie from our About section:
Jamie is contributing one of her very own recipes (which I loved). So without further ado, let’s get to her DELICIOUS post!
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This recipe came about as a happy accident. Now believe me, I almost never have this kind of luck, all my culinary accidents end with my kitchen looking like a crime scene, and loved ones trying very hard to politely decline a second tasting. But as luck would have it this recipe quickly became a family favorite, I hope it will become one of yours too. It’s a great dish to make if you’re serving a lot of people, it’s easy to multiply the quantities, and it’s filling and really flavorful.
The flavors in this recipe are a cross between a traditional Persian rice dish and, with the meat filling, of a kibbeh. Kibbeh is an Arabic meze dish where meat flavored with spices, herbs, onions and garlic are stuffed into a bulgar casing and deep fried. I hope you enjoy!
One more quick note – this recipe can get pretty spicy, so if you like something a little more mild, try only using half the chile.
Ingredients for Meat & Rice
- 4 oz Angel Hair/Vermicelli pasta – broken into small pieces
- 1 lb. Basmati Rice – rinsed (see instructions below)
- 1 large onion, diced
- 6 garlic cloves, diced
- 1 Jalapeno/Serrano chile, thinly sliced into rounds
- 15 oz. can of tomato sauce (low sodium, if available)
- Olive oil
- Kosher salt & fresh ground black pepper
- 1/4 tsp. smoked paprika
- 1 tsp. baharat spice blend
- 1/2 tsp. cumin
- 1/4 tsp. turmeric
- 1/4 tsp. cinnamon
- 1-1 1/2 lbs. ground beef
- 2 tsp. harissa spice
- 1 bunch of parsley, chopped
- 1 small bunch of mint, chopped
- Tahini sauce
Ingredients for Tahini Sauce
- 3 tsp. tahini paste (rounded)
- Juice of 1 lemon
- Salt
- Water
- Parsley, chopped
Instructions for the Rice
- Heat half a teaspoon of olive oil in a small saute pan. Add the angel hair pasta and toast until extremely dark brown but not burned. Mix occasionally to make sure the pasta is evenly browned. Remove from pan and set aside.
- Place the rice into a sieve and run underneath cold water until the water is running out clear. Mix the rice together with the toasted pasta and cook per package directions.
- While the rice is cooking, in a large saute pan, saute the onion, garlic and chile in olive oil until soft and most of the liquid has cooked down. Do not caramelize.
- Add salt, pepper, paprika and all of the remaining spices to vegetable mixture and mix well. The spices should begin to darken a little, and the mixture should be a little thick.
- Add the tomato sauce and combine well with the onion mixture until combined. Increase the stove temperature and bring the tomato sauce to a boil. Remove the sauce and set aside.
- In the same pan heat 1 teaspoon of olive oil and add the ground beef. Using a wooden spoon, break up the large chunks of meat so that it’s a very loose mixture and is beginning to brown. Combine the sauce and the meat together in the pan.
- Add 2/3 of the parsley and 2/3 of the mint to the meat and mix well to combine. Cook the meat mixture over medium heat until the meat is cooked through and most of the sauce has evaporated. The mixture should be a very dark red-brown color with flecks of green.
- Taste the meat and adjust seasoning if necessary. Remove from heat and set aside.
Instructions for Tahini Sauce
- In a small bowl, whisk together tahini paste, lemon juice and a large pinch of salt. The mixture should very quickly become thick and gunky. Slowly whisk one teaspoon of water in at a time until the mixture becomes smooth and runs off the whisk like very thin pancake batter.
- Whisk in 1 teaspoon of parsley and set aside.
Assembly
- On a large platter, spread out the rice and pasta in an even layer. Using the back of a spoon, create a depression down the center of the dish for the meat to be poured into.
- Spread the meat out in an even layer, leaving an inch or so on each side for the rice to peak out.
- Sprinkle the remaining parsley and mint over the meat mixture.
- Generously drizzle the tahini over the rice and meat. Serve.
*Minor Lauren Note* If you happen to have trouble finding the baharat or harissa, you can always get them on Amazon, which is where I bought mine. You will LOVE this recipe!