Turkish Köfte Recipe
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If you visit Turkey, you’ll see köfte—balls of ground meat (or sometimes ground vegetables) seasoned with onion, herbs, and spices—everywhere. The recipes vary from region to region and town to town. Some köfte are made with bulgur, rice, or breadcrumbs; others are meat only, mostly lamb, but sometimes a combination of beef and lamb. They are served with flatbread, onions sprinkled with sumac, and yogurt.
Special equipment: Roll your köfte meat around wide, flat wooden skewers. If you use thin skewers, your köfte will likely fall into the grill.
You’ll also need four standard 4-1/2-pound bricks. Wrapped in foil and placed in pairs on opposite ends of the grill, they hold the ends of the skewers aloft so that the köfte float well above the flames as they cook. Bricks can be purchased at most hardware stores.
Game plan: To prepare the köfte indoors, set the broiler to high and arrange a rack in the middle of the oven. Form the lamb mixture into flat meatballs (no skewers) and place them on a baking sheet, making sure they’re not touching. Broil until the köfte are no longer pink in the middle, about 10 minutes.
This recipe was our featured Gateway Dish for Turkey.
- 1 pound ground lamb
- 1 medium garlic clove, minced
- 1/2 cup grated red onion, grated on the small holes of a box grater
- 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh Italian parsley
- 2 teaspoons ground sumac
- 1 1/4 teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon finely chopped fresh mint leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon hot paprika
- Heat a gas or charcoal grill to medium high (about 375°F). Arrange 2 foil-covered bricks on one side of the grill grate. Place 2 more foil-covered bricks opposite the others, about 10 inches away. Soak 8 wide, flat wooden skewers in water for at least 30 minutes.
- Meanwhile, combine all ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium speed until evenly incorporated and the meat appears sticky, about 5 minutes.
- Check the seasoning by forming a small, thin patty. Pan-fry until the center is no longer raw. Taste and add additional seasoning to the meat mixture as desired.
- Fill a medium bowl with warm water and wet your hands in it. Divide the meat mixture into 8 portions, wetting your hands as necessary to prevent sticking. Starting at least 3 inches from the sharp end of a skewer, form the meat around the skewer into a sausage shape about 4 1/2 inches long. To secure the meat on the skewer, open and close your fingers along it, moving up and down the skewer and flattening the meat, creating consecutive grooves. Refrigerate the skewers until the grill is ready.
- Once the grill is ready, place the ends of each skewer on opposite bricks so that the köfte are suspended in the air above the flames and grill grate. Cover the grill and cook, turning the skewers occasionally, until the köfte are no longer pink in the middle, about 8 to 9 minutes. Serve over flatbread with sumac and onion salad, yogurt, and pickled vegetables.
An update to my previous comment: I did try cooking these in the oven and not under the broiler (specifically, in a cast iron grill pan) and I was pleased with how they turned out, nicely browned & with great flavor. I drizzled some of the lamb juice over the flatbreads before warming them in the off-but-still-hot oven. Delicious with the suggested sliced onion, sumac and yogurt.
tinybanquetcommittee, i see the confusion- in our test kitchen, our ovens are equipped with a "broil" setting, as opposed to a separate broiler drawer. The instructions are meant for broiling specifically, whether its under a flame or a heating element, and not just a hot oven. Thanks for pointing out the dubious instructions.
Amy Wisniewski, CHOW
I'm finding the instructions for this recipe a bit confusing as to making these indoors using the broiler -- it sounds like one is meant to turn the broiler on but do the cooking in the oven, not under the broiler -- I suppose I could give the very hot oven a try but I have cooked this sort of thing under the broiler in the past and that's worked well for me.
there is one restaurant in sf @ guerrero and 22 nd they has the best Turkish kofte but this is called ADANA kebab in Turkey because you make in skewer kofte is ground meat patty if you want to try best Turkish kebab TUBA RESTAURANT higly recomended
So delicious and very authentic recipe. Made them as i know them from Turkish (fast food) restaurants in my area, that is, oval shaped patties from the grill (though versions on a skewer exist as well).
11 subrosa I've got this jar of urfa biber. How much would you use for spicy without going over the top.
Indeed - it appears to be a variation of Urfa kebab specifically. The 1/2 tsp of red pepper spice wouldn't add enough heat to bring it into the realm of an Adana kebab, which is much spicier.
At home for our terrace barbecue, we've always mixed the ingredients by hand, but nevertheless the recipe above does look as if it would be quite tasty. Making me hungry. I think I may head out to the local ocakbasi (griller) and order me up a plate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_...
good recipe but one thing to clarify what you are describing here is a type of kebap, kofte is not made on skewers, it is oval shaped individual patties