In this blog post, you will find two different recipes for making a Kofta with tomatoes (Also pronounced as Kefta, Kufta, Kifta). In the Levant, it can be made differently, and I will be sharing as many as I can here.

Sometimes it is made with tomatoes, potatoes, eggplants, peppers other times with tahini, and some do it with pomegranate molasses. I love them all. And I will share them with you here as soon as I find and try the best recipes. If you have a good one, feel free to pass it on.

For now, please find below two different ways to make Kofta with tomatoes (you can also find step by step videos on my instagram):

The first is the most recent (with tomatoes and potatoes) and it is from a friend and a neighbor of mine here in Dubai (Aseel Nahhas), the second is only with tomatoes and it is a recipe from my mother:

Kofta with Tomatoes and Potatoes (Assel Nahhas) 

Makes enough for 4 people (or good for 2 over 2 days) – 1hr 1/2 total time required

Ingredients

750g Kofta (you can usually buy the kofta ready from any butcher in the Middle East or from a Middle Eastern butchery – you can also make it at home recipe is below in the second recipe)

1 ts salt

1/2 ts black pepper

1/2 ts mixed pepper

1 ts olive oil

1 tb oats

3-4 tomatoes (cut in circles around 1/2 inch)

4 potatoes (cut in circles around 1/2 inch)

Sauce

3 tb tomato paste

2 tb lemon

2 tb ketchup

1 ts sugar (I use coconut sugar to keep homemade meals as healthy as possible)

1 cup beef/chicken stock or more

3/4 ts cinnamon

Method

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
2. Start by air-frying the potatoes (15 minutes)
3. Add the salt, black pepper and mixed pepper with the olive oil and oats and incorporate them into your Kofta. (I put a glove on and just knead the Kofta like a dough)
4. Optional: you can make your Kofta into circular patties and also air-fry them for 2-3mins or
5. Just pat your Kofta into a large cooking tray.
6. Add your (air-fried) potatoes over the Kofta.
7. Add your tomatoes over the potatoes.
8. Now mix your sauce ingredients very well and cover your Kofta with it.
9. Cover your cooking dish with foil and insert into your oven for 25 minutes.
10. Remove the foil and broil for another 10-15 minutes until your meat is well cooked and your potatoes are soft.
11. You can eat it with a fork or pita bread.

• Please let me know if any of you want the above recipe in Arabic. You can find an Arabic version to the second recipe below. Your comments are always what I look forward to, so keep them coming. 

Recipe to your best Middle-Eastern Kofta with Tomatoes and Potatoes

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Kofta with Tomatoes 

Middle-Eastern Meat balls or what is known to the Arabs as the Tomato Kofta also known as Kafta Kebab with tomato sauce  كفتة بالبندورة, كفتة بلطماطم

Kebab is a very popular Middle Eastern dish, but did you ever hear of Kofta? Kofta stands for Meat balls in Arabic. It is served almost everywhere around the world only with different ingredients which I find as fascinating.

Today, I will be sharing with you the common “Kofta bil bandoura” which stands for Kofta in Tomato sauce. Some people like to add potatoes and red pepper, some people like to add eggplants and onions. But today, my mother (who is my favorite chef in the world) decided to only make it with fresh tomatoes.

Enjoy the recipe. You can eat this with some rice, or with pita bread.

SUZIE|S KITCHEN

Makes enough for 6 people – 1hr 1/2 total time required

Ingredients

1 kg of soft ground beef

1 Medium size Onion

1/2 cup of finely chopped fresh parsley

1/4 teaspoon of brown soft burgol

Salt

pinch of ground cinnamon

pinch of black pepper

4 tablespoon of sunflower oil

1 small onion (finely chopped)

1 tablespoon of shredded ginger

6 red large tomatoes

Boiling water

Onion soup bag or meat/chicken broth cube  

Optional: Crushed red pepper or finely sliced green chilI

مطبخ سوزي

طريقة عمل كفتة بالبندورة

وقت الطهي: ساعة و نصف – عدد: ٦ شخص

المقادير:

١ كيلو لحم مفروم ناعم

١ بصل متوسط الحجم

١/٢ ربطة بقدونس او ١/٢ كاسة مفروم

١/٢ معلقة صغيرة من البرغل البني الناعم

ملح

فلفل اسمر

قرفة بهار

٤ معلقة كبير زيت عباد الشمس

١ بصل صغير مقطع ناعم

١ معلقة كبير جنزبيل مبشور

٦ حبات طماطم بندورة حمراء الون كبيرة الحجم

ماء مغلية

كيس شوربة بصل بودرة

اختياري: فلفل بهار احمر مجروش او فلفل اخضر مفروم

Recipe

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees.
2. Chop the onion into small pieces and place them into an electric mixer and blend to make the onion soft.
3. Add to the mixer the parsley and mix again.
4. Add the the beef, burgol, 1 teaspoon of salt, pinch of black pepper, ground cinnamon and mix again.
5. In a cooking dish, add sunflower oil, the chopped small onion, shredded ginger and add to oven for 20 minutes, until the onion is cooked and is yellow.
6. Meanwhile, start forming your meat into balls using you hands.
7. Add the balls over the onions and return to oven for another 40 minutes.
8. While your Kofta “Meatballs| is being cooked in the oven, place your tomatoes in a bowl filled with boiling water. Set aside for 10 minutes until skin goes soft.
9. Peel the skin off from the tomatoes and cut them into squares and remove the seeds from inside each tomato.
10. Mix the tomatoes with, 1/4 of the onion soup bag (or 1 cube of stock), 1/4 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper or sliced green chili and mix them well together.
11. Pour the sauce over the cooking dish once your Kofta is well cooked. 
12. Cover the dish with foil and return it into your oven for another 30 minutes until your Kofta is looking golden and barbecued.
13. You can garnish your Kofta with roasted pine nuts.

طريقة التحضير:

١- ضعي الفرن على حرارة ١٨٠

٢- قطع البصل الى حجم صغير ثم ضعيها في خلاط الكتروني للفرم الناعم

٣- ضيفي الى البصل في الخلاط البقدونس و اخلطي مرة اخرى

٤- ضيفي الحم المفروم مع البرغل و ١/٢ معلقة صغيرة من الملح و رشة فلفل اسمر، قرفة مطحون، و اخلطي

٥- في صنية للفرن، ضعي الزيت، ثم البصل المقطع، الجنزبيل، و ضعي في الفرن لمدة ٢٠ دقيقة حتى تستوي البصل للصفار

٦- عمل الكفتة الى شكل طابات

٧- إضافة الكفتة الطابات فوق البصل لمدة ٤٠ دقيقة في الفرن

٨- ضعي البندورة في وعاء مع ماء مغلي لمدة ١٠ دقاءق

٩- إزالة قشر البندورة ثم قطع البندورة الى مربعات و إزالة البزر

١٠-عندما تجهز الكفتة، إزالت الطبق من الفرن و إضافة الطماطم/البندورة فوقها مع ١/٤ من بودزة شوربة البصل، ١/٤ معلقة صغيرة من الملح، ١/٢ معلقة فلفل احمر مجروش او الفلفل اخضر مفروم وخلط المكونات مع بعض

١١- ضعي المنيوم فويل فوق الطبق و ضعي في الفرن لمدة ٣٠ دقيقة لتحمير الكفتة

١٢- يمكن إضافة الصنوبر المقلي فوق الطبق قبل الضيافة