Iraqi Kofta - Oven-Baked Meat Patties – Gluten-free version

👨‍🍳 Method

For the homemade chicken stock ✓ Homemade · or skip – back to store-bought

1. 1
   Put the chicken, the onion, carrot, celery, parsley, bay leaves and peppercorns and the water in a pot and bring to a boil. Skim off the foam that rises during the first 15 minutes with a spoon.

   StovePot
2. 2
   Turn down and simmer gently 2.5–3 hours.

   Stove

   💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.
3. 3
   Strain the stock.

   Colander

For the homemade tomato paste ✓ Homemade · or skip – back to store-bought

1. 4
   Wash the tomatoes, remove the cores and quarter each tomato.

   KnifeCutting board
2. 5
   Put the tomatoes, the salt and half of the olive oil in a wide pot, cover and cook over medium heat about 20 minutes, until the tomatoes soften and release their liquid.

   StoveWide, shallow pot
3. 6
   Pass the tomatoes and their liquid through a food mill or sieve and return the purée to the pot: the skins and seeds stay behind.

   Food millorFine sieve
4. 7
   Cook uncovered about an hour at a lively simmer, stirring now and then, until the purée reduces by half.

   StoveWooden spoon

   💡The paste burns easily as it dries: stir and scrape the bottom and edges, and once it is thick, don't walk away.
5. 8
   Preheat the oven to 110°C (230°F).

   Oven

   💡Put things in the oven only once it's reached temperature, after the heating light has gone off: an oven that hasn't reached temperature changes baking times, and the bake burns outside or stays underbaked.
6. 9
   Grease a wide baking dish with the rest of the olive oil and pour in the purée in a thin layer. Dry in the oven about 3 hours, stirring and scraping the edges every 30 minutes, until the paste is thick, sticky and brick red.

   OvenBaking sheetSilicone spatula
7. 10
   Let the paste cool.

   Jar

For the Meatball mix

1. 11
   Mix the ground meat with the onion, garlic, parsley, egg, gluten-free breadcrumbs, cumin, paprika, baharat, salt and black pepper until evenly combined.
2. 12
   With wet hands, shape patties the size of Egg.

   💡Wet hands don't stick to the mixture, and the patties come out smooth and even.

To assemble

1. 13
   Preheat the oven to 200°C (390°F).

   Oven
2. 14
   In the baking dish, mix the tomato paste and stock. The sauce cooks in the oven with the dish.

   Baking pan
3. 15
   Nestle the meatballs in the sauce in the pan and drizzle the olive oil over them.

   Baking pan
4. 16
   Bake 30–35 minutes, until the meatballs are golden.

   OvenBaking pan

   💡Meatballs baked in the sauce cook in it from below and brown on top, with no frying and no flipping.

   💡Check by the cue (until…), not just the clock: every oven bakes a little differently.
5. 17
   Serve with white rice.