Kibbeh roll
March 19, 2014 • Category: Whole Grain/Bulgur/Rice, Main Dish
This kibbeh roll, made like a jelly roll cake, is a creation of Aleppo cooks. It is a lot easier and faster to make than kibbeh balls. Two pounds of kibbeh paste will yield three long rolls, of which one or two can be frozen.
The original recipes usually call for stuffing the roll with a mixture of ground meat, onion, and pistachio (called Aleppo pistachios here, fustuk halabi). I decided to go lighter and used only onions and pistachios, which works fine; a touch of pomegranate molasses is added to the stuffing. The pomegranate molasses can be substituted with date or grape molasses.
Stuffing: 2 rolls about 12 to 14″ long
- 4 large onions, sliced into rings
- 2 cups pistachios, peeled and split in halves or chopped coarsely
- 1/3 cup oil or clarified butter
- salt, to taste
- 1 tablespoon pomegranate molasses
1. Fry the onions in the oil until browned and caramelized; add the pistachios and fry a couple of minutes with a touch of pomegranate molasses if desired.
Don’t split the dough in half if you like your roll to be thick and longer.
Kibbe dough: Can be made a few hours ahead and refrigerated. Recipe can be doubled.
- 1 pound (1/2 kilo or 500g.) of kibbe meat, meaning extra lean piece of meat, whether it is beef, lamb, or goat. Ask the butcher to grind it 3 or 4 times, if possible.
- 1 onion, medium size, about 7 ounces
- 1 cup (150g.) of fine-grade bulgur, or burghul #1
- Spice mix consisting of salt, pepper, allspice, cinnamon, paprika, and whatever else you fancy, about 1/2 teaspoon each.
- Place the bulgur in a small bowl and sprinkle with cold water. Set aside.
- Cut the onion into chunks and pulse in the food processor until the onion is chopped very finely. Place the bulgur in a sieve and press all of the water and moisture out. Add to the onion and process for a minute or two.
- Add the meat to the onion and bulgur mixture with the spices and process for a few minutes until the mixture is firm but moist. This should around five minutes.
- If the mixture looks too stiff, add a few drops of ice water; the meat paste should be thick and smooth. Divide the dough in 2 halves. Set a small bowl of water with ice cubes nearby and knead the dough a few seconds by hand until you are comfortable with its texture (it is smooth and malleable like playdough). Now roll it out between sheets of plastic or wax paper into a rectangle. Stuff it with half the pistachio and onion stuffing at one end and roll, using the plastic wrap. To seal the roll, dip your fingers in the ice water and brush the kibbeh dough with your wet fingers. Set the rolls on a baking sheet, brush with oil generously and bake at 350F for about 20 minutes or until the rolls are set and feel stiff when thumped. Cool then slice and serve with yogurt if desired.
NOTE: Some like to wet the plastic sheets; I don’t find it necessary, however, adding ice water is part of the process of making kibbeh and don’t be afraid to do so if the dough is too stiff.
Comments
13 Comments • Comments Feed
Rosa says:
So pretty and original. a wonderful recipe.
Cheers,
Rosa
On March 19, 2014 at 10:45 am
Hélène (Cannes) says:
Oh c’est superbe ! J’ai fait à midi un repas marocain aux copains de boulot à qui j’avais fait un déjeuner libanais avec toutes tes recettes l’été dernier … Ils me redemandent maintenant un repas libanais, avec de nouvelles recettes … Je note celle-ci … et pars à la recherche d’autres merveilles sur ton blog ! Bisous
On March 19, 2014 at 10:52 am
Sylva says:
An outstanding share! Thanks Joumana.
You eat with your eyes first. This dish is Sophisticated enough for adults but still child-friendly. I love it, and will add this stunning dish to my cooking repertoire.
On March 19, 2014 at 11:09 am
maritachicita says:
Oh this looks amazing. I was suppose to go to Aleppo but then had to cancel it through to the war starting. I hope i can get to visit it one day. This looks amazing.
On March 19, 2014 at 12:58 pm
Belinda @zomppa says:
That’s a fantastic way to eat this! The more, the merrier.
On March 19, 2014 at 6:11 pm
Velva says:
I think I would really enjoy these kibbeh rolls. Nice!
Velva
On March 19, 2014 at 6:54 pm
Yasmeen | Wandering says:
I’ve never seen kibbeh in this shape before – how wonderful. So much less time consuming than the usual ‘football’ shape that we make at home.
On March 19, 2014 at 8:30 pm
MyKabulKitchen says:
This is a beautiful presentation, what a unique idea! Also this would motivate me to actually bake instead of fry Kibbeh which I know is much healthier.
As always thanks for sharing!
On March 20, 2014 at 5:59 pm
Susan says:
What a beautiful and delicious presentation with the kibbeh made into rolls. The stuffing sounds delicious too.
On March 21, 2014 at 4:25 pm
Oui, Chef says:
SO beautiful! Love the pomegranate arils dancing along the top of the log.
On March 24, 2014 at 9:04 am
Doc says:
Today I tried to see how thin I could make the dough that wraps around the filling.
I spread it onto a layer of StretchTite and could reliably get it down to about 3/16″ thick without any holes. If I made a hole I just buttered a little additional dough on to cover it up. That made invisible repairs.
Then I cut a piece of bread to simulate a stick of frozen filling, and it was easy to wrap the layer of dough around the filling, seal it thoroughly and then microwave it for a couple of minutes to pre-cook the dough. After that I could take off the plastic wrap, brush it with oil and oven bake the resulting roll.to brown it.
On December 22, 2014 at 2:47 pm
Joumana says:
@Doc: As always, you impress me with your technical prowess 🙂
On December 22, 2014 at 5:09 pm
Sarah says:
Looks amazing. going to try this out soon. Can it be frozen before baking?
On June 6, 2016 at 3:54 pm