We ate this delicious ‘cake’ – a giant Turkish kibbeh – on a bed of rocket and watercress. I tweaked the original recipe (from Salma Hage), using rice flour, slightly different spices – and more sweet potato as we couldn’t taste it in the original. Delicious served warm from the oven.
Serves 6
2 kg sweet potato
350g bulgur wheat soaked in water for 15-20 minutes
4 tbsp rice flour
1 red onion, roughly grated
250 g mozzarella, grated
120g well drained sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
½ tsp cayenne (or more it you like hot)
1 tsp sweet paprika
freshly ground black pepper
1 handful fresh basil, chopped
1 handful fresh parsley, chopped
olive oil for brushing and drizzling
Method:
Note: After soaking the bulgur wheat, put in some muslin and squeeze well so that all the liquid is removed. A sieve is not enough!
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees/gas mark 6. Prick the sweet potatoes with a fork and bake until tender, about 45-60 minutes. Remove from the oven and let cool so you can handle it. Cut in half, scoop out the flesh and put into a bowl together with the grated onion, all the spices and chopped herbs, flour, mozzarella, tomatoes and the drained bulgur wheat.
Mix all the ingredients together thoroughly.
Brush a 30cm round cake pan with oil then line with baking paper. Put the mixture in the prepared pan, pressing down firmly. Score the top into 8 portions and make a 2cm hole in the centre (a clean index finger does the job!)
Drizzle with oil and bake for about an hour.
Cool before cutting – best served still warm from the oven. Either enjoy a slice on a mixed bed of salad greens and herbs, or as an accompaniment to a larger mezze meal.