Baked kofta with eggplant and potatoes
Kofta is one of those comforting dishes that I grew up eating and just love to eat and make for my family. It can take a lot of forms.
A popular way to make kofta at home in the Levant is kofta bil saniyah – kofta baked in a tray with potatoes and tomatoes. Another tray bake dish that I LOVE, which is exceedingly popular among Egyptians, is moussaka (mesa’aa). Eggplant fried then baked in tomato sauce, often with ground meat and kofta-like spices and at times potatoes are added. So, I figured, why not add some eggplant?
If kofta bil saniyah and Egyptian moussaka had a love child- this may be it.
We ate this with my Egyptian rice with vermicelli, or roz bil shareya, and tahina-yogurt sauce on top, and it was heavenly.
Making the kofta bil saniyah
This recipe is pretty straight forward, it requires slicing your veggies and roasting (or frying) the eggplant, making your kofta mix and shaping it into patties, and making a simple garlicky tomato sauce.
The kofta recipe can be used in many other ways. Made into patties or fingers to be grilled, pan-seared, or broiled it makes an excellent main dish or sandwich.
This kofta is seasoned with an assortment of warm spices.
I always say that people should use the spices that they like, don’t feel compelled to follow to the letter.
The only thing that I don’t ever recommend omitting is salt, though of course salt should be adjusted to taste. I like to season my kofta with a heavy hand, others may use few to no spices beyond salt and pepper.
My mama taught me to always taste the kofta mix and adjust the seasoning accordingly. Yes, I mean raw. (I can’t be the only one, can I?) I’ve been doing this for years and have never been sick. And really, what sickness could be worse than serving under-seasoned kofta? But I know some people may be squeamish at the thought. You can always fry up a tiny piece and taste it that way, if you prefer.
So, mix up your kofta and taste it if you dare.
Quickly sear the patties and assemble your veggies and patties in the tray.
Make your simple tomato sauce, pour it over and bake for about 50 mins, or until potatoes are cooked through.
Ben hana wel shefa! Enjoy!
Kofta bil saniyah (baked kofta tray) with eggplant and potatoes
Equipment
- Food processor
- 9 x 13 inch baking pan with high sides, or other pan of similar volume
Ingredients
For the veggies
- 2 medium eggplants
- olive oil
- 2 large potatoes
- 4 plum tomatoes or other med-size tomato
For the Kofta
- 2 lbs ground lamb or beef or a mix of the two
- 1 medium onion
- 1 bunch parsley
- 1.5 tsp allspice ground
- 1 tsp cinnamon ground
- 1 tsp coriander ground
- 1 small pinch cardamom
- 1.5 tsp kosher salt I use diamond brand, if using Morton brand use 1 tsp
For tomato sauce
- 3 tbsp tomato paste
- 3 cloves garlic finely minced
- 2 cups water
- 1 tbsp kosher salt or to taste
- pepper white and black if available, to taste
Instructions
Preparing vegetables
- Preheat oven to 450F.
- Slice you eggplants crosswise into 2 cm-ish discs.
- Lay flat on a parchment paper-lined baking sheet, toss with olive oil and bake until golden, approximately 30 minutes. Leave the oven at 450, as you will bake the tray at this temperature.
- Slice tomatoes in the same manner.
- Peel potatoes and slice a bit thinner than the eggplants, as they will take the longest to cook.
For the Kofta
- Pulse onion in food processor until it is finely minced, taking care to not puree it. Squeeze the water out of the shopped onions (I do it with my hands, putting the onion in a paper towel then squeezing). Set aside onion water. (Always remove the water from onions when making kofta as the excess moisture will cause kofta to fall apart.)
- Pulse parsley in food processor until finely minced.
- Mix your ground meat, onion, parsely and spices in a mixing bowl. Using your hands gets the best results. Work it until combined but no longer ,as overworking can cause the meat to toughen.
- Form balls with your kofta mix and flatten into patties. Try to get them to be a similar radius and thickness as your vegetables, but don't go crazy with this. It doesn't need to be perfect.
- Sear patties on both sides in a pan with some oil over high heat. You don't want them to cook too much during this step, but just to brown on the outside, it should take about 3 minutes or so on each side.
Making your tomato sauce
- Saute minced garlic in some olive oil over a medium flame until fragrant, but don't let it brown.
- Add tomato paste and saute another 3 minutes or so.
- Add water and reserved onion juice and turn up heat to high. Bring to a boil, then turn down to low and simmer for 10 minutes.
- Season liberally with salt and pepper. Taste to make sure it is well seasoned, under-seasoned sauce will leach the flavour out of your kofta.
Assembly
- Arrange veggies and patties in tray in your chosen pattern. Trim any pieces that are particularly larger than the others before assembling.
- Pour hot tomato sauce over kofta and vegetables.
- Cover tightly with foil and very carefully move the pan to the oven and bake for around 45 minutes at 450F. Once you can easily pierce the potatoes with a fork put back in oven for 5-10 more minutes uncovered to allow the top to brown.
- Serve hot with rice and yogurt or tahina sauce!
My dad tried this recipe last night and it was delicious!!
Thank you so much for sharing, Mary! So glad he liked it and totally humbled that an Egyptian from our parents’ generation would try one of my recipes. So many thanks to him for giving it a try!
Hi Dahlia, this dish seems delicious and I am planning to make it on Saturday, when I will receive some friends at my house. I’d like to ask you how many people this recipe is for. Thanks for this amazing blog!
Hi Stella! Thanks so much for visiting and commenting. So excited to hear you will try this out! I think it is good for 4-6 people, depending on how hungry they are and if there are other side dishes with it. I think its great with Egyptian rice and vermicelli and Egyptian salad (salata balady) if you are looking for what to make with it. I think with those sides it would feed 6. Let me know if you have other questions and I can’t wait to hear how it goes!
Hi Dahlia, thanks so much for replying. I loved your suggestions for side dishes (was already considering making rice with vermicelli, now I definitely will). And for nibbles I’ll make chunky mutabbal, pumpkin mutabbal, and serve bread and zatar . So, yes, I think this will recipe will feed 6 🙂 I will take photos and tag you on Facebook so you can see the result! Thanks so much.
Oh my goodness. This meal sounds so good. Wish I could come! lol! I’m not on facebook but I am on Instagram, would be so happy to see the photos!! Have fun!
Ohh I meant Instagram (I already follow you), wrote Facebook by mistake 🙂 Thanks again!
thank YOU! 🙂
Made this dish for dinner and my half-Egyptian/half-Syrian partner said the flavours were on point. I forgot to set aside the reserve onion water though! Whoops! But it was still super delicious. Don’t forget to cut the potato slices much thinner than the eggplant and tomato slices as they do take longer to cook! And the leftovers were just as yummy! Thanks for the recipe, Dahlia!
Thank you so much for trying the recipe and taking the time to comment! I’m glad it turned out great!
The picture on the website inspired me to try this. The way the recipe was written made it so easy to follow. Taking off the foil and seeing it brown in the end made me feel like a real cook. I paired this with the Egyptian rice and the timing worked out perfect. It came out delicious and the whole family enjoyed. I will definitely be making this again! Highly recommend!
My Family Loved it. I am definitely sharing Guys, Thanks For sharing this Great Recipe. this recipe and this website with my friend. Hope they also love it. Thank you again for sharing such a great recipe.