AD | Fırında Köfte with Buttery, Garlicky Hasselback Potatoes

AD (Paid Partnership) | I’ve partnered with the wonderful @AEG.uk again to bring you a DELICIOUS new recipe, Fırında Köfte (Oven Baked Meatballs) with Buttery, Garlicky Hasselback Potatoes; the kind of meal that brings those summer holiday vibes straight into your home.

As soon as the weather warms up, I want to eat every meal outside, but that doesn’t mean that I always cook outside. This recipe is all cooked in one dish, in the oven (I LOVE all the features on my AEG Steam Crisp Steam Oven - some of which you can see on this Reel) but still brings all those delicious, Mediterranean flavours to the table. A simple dream to make and to eat, and packed full of flavour, you can find the full recipe on my blog, link to the recipe reel here.

For the Köfte

50g fine breadcrumbs

100ml milk

500g Lamb or Beef Mince

1 large onion, very finely chopped (in the food processor) or coarsely grated and juice squeezed out

50g fresh parsley, finely chopped

1 tbsp Turkish Sweet Red Pepper Paste

1 tsp olive oil

½ tsp ground cinnamon

½ tsp ground cumin

½ tsp pul biber

1 tsp dried mint

¾ tsp sea salt flakes

¾ tsp coarse black pepper

1 onion, peeled and thickly sliced

A small handful of cherry tomatoes

2 tbsp tomato puree

1 chicken or vegetable stock cube

400ml boiling hot water

For the potatoes

750g Charlotte or large new potatoes, washed well

50g unsalted butter, softened

1 tsp finely grated garlic

¼ tsp dried mint

¼ tsp pul biber

1 tsp finely chopped fresh parsley leaves

½ tsp sea salt flakes 

Method

Preheat oven to 180c fan / 200c. 

Place the breadcrumbs into a small bowl, add the milk, and stir well so that the breadcrumbs soften.

Place the mince into a large bowl along with the onions, fresh parsley, soaked breadcrumbs, red pepper paste, olive oil, cinnamon, cumin, pul biber, dried mint, salt and pepper and mix everything together, really well. Cover the dish with clingfilm and pop in the fridge while you prepare the potatoes.

Place a wooden spoon on a sturdy chopping board, and place one of the potatoes horizontally in the spoon. Using a sharp knife, carefully cut thin slits vertically into the potato, without going all the way through (the wooden spoon will prevent you from going all the way through but still take care – you want the potato to stay intact). Repeat this with all the remaining potatoes.

Mix together the butter, garlic, ¼ tsp dried mint, ¼ tsp pul biber, 1 tsp fresh parsley and ½ tsp salt and spread a generous amount of the seasoned butter all over each of the potatoes until all of the mixture has been used up and all of the potatoes are covered.

Take the köfte mixture out of the fridge, and with a bowl of cold water beside you to wet your hands with whilst shaping the köfte (to prevent the mixture from sticking to your hands), shape the mixture into 12 equal sized patties. Alternately arrange the shaped köfte and potatoes in an ovenproof, heavy bottomed casserole dish with a lid (if you have one, or a regular oven proof dish without a lid will be fine), squeezing the sliced onion and cherry tomatoes in between the köfte and potatoes. Mix together the tomato puree, stock cube and boiling water until the former two have fully dissolved in the liquid, and carefully pour the stock mixture into the dish.

Cover the dish tightly with foil, then the lid (if using) and pop in the oven for 1 hour. After an hour, take out, remove the lid and the foil, and carefully baste everything with some of the bubbling juices. Pop the dish back in the oven, uncovered, turn the heat up to 200C fan / 220 C and cook for another 15-20 minutes until everything is a lovely golden brown colour.

Take out and let it rest for 5 minutes at least before serving. Serve with a sprinkling of fresh parsley, a good dollop of thick set natural (süzme) yoghurt and some black olives, pickled peppers and a fresh salad.