Apr 14, 2011

Kafta (Lebanese Beef Kebabs)

This kafta recipe is adapted from Annia Ciezadlo's Day of Honey (Simon & Schuster, 2011). This recipe first appeared in our May 2011 issue, with the article The World of Satay.

Credit: Todd Coleman

MAKES 22 SKEWERS

8 oz. ground beef chuck

2 tbsp. finely chopped parsley

2 tbsp. finely chopped sun-dried tomatoes

2 tbsp. Aleppo pepper

1/4 tsp. ground allspice

3/4 tsp. dried mint

1/2 tsp. ground cumin

1/2 tsp. ground coriander

1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon

1/2 medium yellow onion, grated, drained in a strainer

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Build a hot charcoal fire in a grill. In a large bowl, stir together beef, parsley, tomatoes, Aleppo, allspice, mint, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, onions, salt, and pepper. Form 1 tbsp. beef mixture each around the end of 22 skewers; grill, turning, until lightly charred, about 4 minutes.

This article was first published in Saveur in Issue #138

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Ratings & Reviews (3)

by tumbrink on 2011-05-21

I made these and served pita sandwich style with chopped lettuce, tomato and tzatziki sauce and they were great. I found the Aleppo pepper at Penzies and used about 2/3 of recommended amt. Next time I will use 1/2. I liked it but it was a little too hot for my family. It seemed I was adding too many spices when I made the recipe but it works. Cooked them on a gas grill and they looked nice before cutting and burying in the pita bread. Easy too.

by beejay on 2011-06-01

"Form 1 tbsp. (sic) beef mixture each around the end of 22 skewers..."

May be nit picking, but if that's only a Tbsp. of filling on the pictured skewers, they must be the size of toothpicks. ;)

by scarmichael on 2011-08-20

Easy and fabulous and a crowd-pleaser. Our two-year-old loves them. Serve with a yogurt-garlic dipping sauce for extra deliciousness.

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