Recipe
Pork kofta, roasted summer vegetable couscous, tzatsiki, pickled beetroot stems
The plan for this meal came about when we were all missing our volunteer Kyle, who had gone on holiday to Greece. Knowing he’d be back to help with this meal, it could only be kofta! This meal was summer on a plate, perfect for the Llanelli heatwave. Pickling the beetroot stems was the revelation of this cookalong, a delicious extra crunch on the plate and a clever way to cut down on food waste.
Illustration by Lauren Pollard, Llanelli
Ingredients (Serves 4)
- 500g butcher’s pork mince
- 1 onion grated or chopped finely
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ½ – 1tsp of paprika, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, fennel, oregano.
- Handful of chopped herbs e.g parsley, fresh oregano, coriander, basil (use one or all) chopped roughly
- 3 tbsp breadcrumbs (fresh or dry)
- 1 egg (optional but helps bind)
- 3/4 tsp salt
- Generous amounts of black pepper grinds
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Wooden skewers – soaked in water.
- Oil for cooking
- 200g couscous
- 200ml boiling water or vegetable stock
- 1 red pepper
- 1 aubergine
- 1 courgette
- Tip: change up the veggies in the winter for roots such as carrots, squash, parsnips, broccoli or sprouts
- 1 red onion
- 10-20 cherry tomatoes
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- Pinch of favourite spices – smoked paprika, cumin seeds, coriander powder and cinnamon all work nicely here.
- Stems from 1-2 large bunches of red or golden beetroot
- 4 tbsp vinegar (red wine vinegar or apple-cider vinegar both work well)
- 2 tsp caster sugar
- ½ tsp salt (add more to taste)
- 150 g greek yoghurt (or any plain yoghurt)
- 1 clove garlic crushed
- 1 pinch salt and black pepper
- Half a cucumber (about 150g)
- 2 tablespoon chopped fresh mint or dill
- Squeeze of lemon juice to taste
Method
- Sauté onions gently for 10 minutes in 2 tsp oil, cook down slowly until soft and sweet. Add garlic to the onions towards the end of the cooking time. Leave to cool.
- Add paprika, cumin, coriander, cinnamon, fennel seeds, dried oregano, fresh herbs of choice, lemon zest, salt and pepper to a large mixing bowl with the pork mince, breadcrumbs, onions, egg, seasoning. Leave as long as possible for the flavours to infuse.
- When ready to assemble to kofta, take a small handful of the mix and roll into an oval/torpedo shape and slide onto skewers, pressing the meat on firmly. Repeat until all mixture is used up. (Pre-soak wooden skewers in water to make sure they don’t burn in the oven. If you have no skewers, just roll into balls or patties.)
- Place onto a baking tray lined with baking parchment.
- Drizzle with a little oil and put into a pre heated oven at 180°C for approx 25 minutes.
- Pre-heat oven to 200°C
- Chop veg into preferred size and arrange in a large roasting tin.
- Toss with olive oil and spices.
- Roast for 25-30 minutes until tender and beginning to char around the edges.
- Add couscous to heatproof bowl with a glug of olive oil and a pinch of salt. Pour over 200ml boiling water (or vegetable stock for more flavour). Cover bowl tightly for 10-15 minutes, using a plate or saucepan lid. Fluff with a fork.
- Stir roasted veg through the couscous. Good served at room temperature.
- Cut stems into ¼ inch slices. Place stems in bowl
- Bring vinegar to boil and stir in sugar, salt. You can add any herbs or spices you enjoy here to flavour the stems.
- Take off heat and pour over the beetroot stems
- Let stand for 20-30 minutes.
- Stir yoghurt in a bowl with 1 crushed garlic clove and season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Peel cucumber, cut in half and scoop out the seeds with a teaspoon. Coarsely grate.
- Stir cucumber into the yoghurt and add the chopped fresh herbs.
- Add lemon juice to taste. Allow to stand for five minutes before serving.
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