Lamb kofta puffs with tahini and tomato sauce

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1 Hour 15 Minutes Serves 6

Ingredients

  • Lamb mince 500g
  • Eggs 3 large, 2 for the mix, 1 beaten to glaze
  • Flat-leaf parsley a bunch, finely chopped
  • Onion 1, finely chopped
  • Garlic 4 cloves, crushed
  • Pul biber or other chilli flakes 2 tbsp
  • Plain flour for dusting
  • Ready-rolled all-butter puff pastry 2 x 320g sheets
  • Nigella seeds 1 heaped tbsp

Sauces

  • Chopped tomatoes 400g tin
  • Rose harissa 1 tbsp
  • Greek-style yoghurt 150g, (the looser variety)
  • Tahini 3 tbsp

Method

  1. To make the sauce, gently simmer the tinned tomatoes, harissa and a pinch of sugar in a small pan, on a medium heat until reduced, about 20-25 minutes. Cool.
  2. In a large bowl, mix the lamb mince with 2 eggs, parsley, onion, garlic and chilli flakes and work the meat into an evenly mixed paste using clean hands. Divide the mixture into 24 smooth balls. The best way to do this is to weigh the overall mixture and then divide by 24 and weigh out the little balls to roughly the same weight.
  3. Lay the pastry sheets out lengthways on a lightly floured worksurface and cut 12 squares from each sheet. Each square should be roughly 8 x 8cm.
  4. Heat the oven to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4. Put a little kofta ball in the centre of the pastry and gather the opposite corners of pastry and bring them over the kofta, pinching the pastry to seal it over the meat. Transfer onto baking sheets. Glaze the pastry with a little beaten egg, sprinkle the tops with nigella seeds and then pop the pastry into the oven to bake for 25 minutes, or until the pastry is crisp and golden brown.
  5. Heat the tomato sauce, then combine the yogurt with 3 tbsp of tahini and season. Slacken the mixture with lukewarm water until it’s the consistency of pourable double cream. Drizzle each puff with tahini sauce and tomato sauce and serve immediately.