Baked Potato Kibbeh
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Spices and caramelized onions flavor this easy recipe for Baked Potato Kibbeh, a savory Middle Eastern entrée you'll want to make again and again.
Ingredients
  • 2.5lbs (or a little over 1kg) of potatoes
  • 1¼ cups fine bulgur wheat (sometimes labeled as #1)
  • 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 small onion, grated
  • 1½ teaspoons sea salt
  • black pepper (I like at least ¼ teaspoon)
  • ¾ teaspoon allspice
  • pinch of cinnamon
  • ¼ cup chopped parsley
  • ¼ cup olive oil
For an optional stuffing:
  • 3 cups of chopped greens, sautéed with a little olive oil and a pinch of salt for 5 minutes (spinach, swiss chard, kale, and bok choy are all great)
  • ¼ cup of toasted pine nuts
Instructions
  1. First you'll want to cook the potatoes. I prefer baking them, but you can also boil them. While the potatoes are cooking, prepare the bulgur wheat by soaking it in lukewarm water for 20 minutes, then drain it in a sieve and let all excess water drip away.
  2. Prepare your baking pan by adding 1 Tablespoon of olive oil and arranging the sliced onion pieces in a single layer on the bottom of the pan.
  3. Preheat oven to 400°F. Mash the potatoes with a masher or rice them until smooth. Combine them and the bulgur in a very large bowl with the grated onion, salt, black pepper, allspice, cinnamon, and parsley. You'll want to thoroughly combine everything together, so the best way, and indeed the most traditional method, is to use your hands. Squish and squeeze the bulgur into the potatoes, onions, and spices until you have a uniform mixture. This only takes about a minute. It should be soft and workable. If it's too crumbly, add a few tablespoons of water.
  4. You'll now want to press this mixture evenly over the sliced onions in the pan. The best way to do this is to roughly divide the mixture into fourths and place each quarter over each quadrant of the pan. This ensures that you don't overuse or underuse the mixture on some sections of the pan. (See the picture above for a visual explanation)
  5. Use a little water on your hands to flatten and smooth the surface of the kibbeh then use a knife to score diamond shapes (or any pattern you like) into it, going almost all the way through. Evenly pour the ¼ cup of olive oil over the entire surface of the kibbeh and bake for 40-50 minutes or until it is golden brown. If after this time it doesn't brown sufficiently, stick it under the broiler for a few minutes. (This is preferable to baking it longer and drying it out too much) Remove from oven and let it sit for 5-10 minutes to cool down slightly. Use a spatula remove pieces of the kibbeh, making sure you scrape up the delicious caramelized onions on the bottom.
Notes
-This recipe makes enough for one baking pan of kibbeh. The square pan I used in the pictures above is a 9-inch brownie pan, and the other one is a 12-inch round pan. The size of the pan will determine how thick or thin your kibbeh will be.

-If you choose to boil your potatoes instead of baking, peel and quarter them and start them in cool water and bring it to a boil. Once they are just tender, but not falling apart, drain them and put them back in the hot pot to dry off some excess water.

-If you want to make the optional stuffed version (like the kibbeh in the round pan in the pictures above), spread half of the potato/bulgur mixture over the onions, then spread the sautéed greens and pine nuts over it, and finally spread the remaining half of the potato/bulgur mix over that. Score the top and bake as usual.

-You can make this into a gluten-free kibbeh! Use 3 cups of cooked quinoa instead of the bulgur wheat.
Recipe by Lands & Flavors at https://www.landsandflavors.com/baked-potato-kibbeh/