AI-generated image
İzmir köfte
İzmir köfte: köfte, potatoes and peppers baked in a tomato sauce
Ask anyone from İzmir what their mother cooked on weeknights and İzmir köfte comes up: fingers of cumin-scented köfte, wedges of potato and long green peppers, lined up in a tray and baked in a thin tomato sauce until everything is soft and the edges catch. It is a one-tray family supper served with rice pilaf, a bowl of cacık and plenty of bread for the sauce. Chef's tip: fry the köfte and potatoes briefly before baking; that quick browning gives depth the oven alone can't.
- Total time
- 75 min
- Difficulty
- easy
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
For the köfte
For the tray
Shop this recipe on Amazon
Spices & pantry
Fresh ingredients (6)
Links open Amazon in a new tab. As an Amazon Associate, WhatToEat.Today earns from qualifying purchases.
Method
0/6 doneStep 1: Knead 1 ⅛ lb beef mince, 1 onion, 1 ⅜ oz fresh breadcrumbs, 1 egg, 1 tsp ground cumin, ½ oz flat-leaf parsley and 1 tsp salt for 3 minutes. Shape into 16 fingers and chill for 15 minutes.
15 minStep 2: Heat 4 tbsp sunflower oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Fry 3 potatoes for 6–8 minutes, until golden on the outside, then brown the köfte for 3–4 minutes all over; they don't need to cook through yet.
12 minStep 3: Heat the oven to 400°F (350°F fan). Arrange köfte, potatoes, 4 long green peppers and 2 tomatoes alternately in a 25 × 30 cm baking dish.
Step 4: Whisk 1 tbsp tomato paste, 1 tbsp Turkish red pepper paste, 1 ¼ cups hot water and ½ tsp salt and pour over the tray.
Step 5: Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes, then uncover and bake 15–20 minutes more, until the potatoes are tender, the sauce has reduced and the köfte reach 160°F. Common mistake: drowning the tray; the sauce should come only halfway up.
40 minStep 6: Rest for 5 minutes and serve with pilaf and yoghurt.
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 520 kcal
- Protein
- 30 g
- Carbs
- 36 g
- Fat
- 28 g
- Fibre
- 5 g
Nutrition values are estimates.
KrazyBadal
Good to know
- How long does i̇zmir köfte take?
- About 75 minutes in total: 25 minutes to prepare and 50 minutes to cook.
- How many people does it serve?
- 4 as written. Change the servings above the ingredients and every amount scales to match.
- What can I use instead of onion?
- 2 shallots per onion.
- What can I use instead of fresh breadcrumbs?
- Crushed crackers or cornflakes, same amount.
Reviews
No reviews yet. Be the first to cook it.
Rate this recipe
Sign in to rate and review this recipe.
You might also like
Pork souvlaki
This is a pork recipe. Walk through any Greek town after dark, from Athens to Thessaloniki, and the smell of souvlaki stands drifts down the street; cubes of pork shoulder grilled on thin skewers are the country's favourite cheap supper, eaten standing up or at a plastic-table taverna. At home you marinate the meat in lemon, olive oil, garlic and dried oregano, grill it hard and fast, and pile it on warm pitta with tzatziki, tomato and red onion. Chef's tip: cut the pork into even 2.5 cm cubes and leave a little fat on; lean loin dries out, shoulder stays juicy over high heat.
Greek
Tteokgalbi
Tteokgalbi is rib meat chopped finely, pressed back into neat slabs and grilled, so it's soft enough to eat without struggling with a bone. Two places in South Jeolla claim it: Damyang, the bamboo county, where all-beef patties come with rice steamed in bamboo tubes, and Gwangju's Songjeong district, whose restaurant street near the railway station mixes beef with pork. This home version uses minced beef and pork, seasoned with soy, garlic and pear, then brushed with a soy and honey glaze as it cooks. Serve with rice, lettuce and a few banchan; leftovers are good cold in a lunchbox. Chef's tip: slap the mince against the bowl for a few minutes; it turns sticky and the patties hold together on the grill without any breadcrumbs.
Korean
Char siu
Hanging in long glossy strips in the windows of Guangzhou's siu mei shops, char siu is the roast pork Cantonese families pick up on the way home to put on rice, noodles or into steamed buns. The outside is lacquered, sweet and a little charred at the edges; the inside stays juicy, savoury and faintly scented with five-spice. Shoulder (pork butt) is the cut to use, because its marbling keeps the strips moist through a hot oven. Marinate it overnight in the fridge, roast it the next day and eat it warm with steamed rice and blanched greens, or cold in fried rice and noodle soups. Chef's tip: save the honey for the last ten minutes; brushed on at the start it burns black long before the pork is cooked.
Chinese