Mafroum with homemade tomato paste

👨‍🍳 Method

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

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

   KnifeCutting board
2. 2
   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. 3
   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. 4
   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. 5
   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. 6
   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. 7
   Let the paste cool.

   Jar

For the Meatball mix

1. 8
   Mix the ground meat with the onion, garlic, cumin, paprika, turmeric, salt and black pepper until evenly combined.

To assemble

1. 9
   Cut the potatoes into thick slices of 1 cm.

   KnifeCutting board
2. 10
   Put a spoonful of the mixture on a slice, cover with another slice and press lightly.
3. 11
   Heat the oil in a pan and brown the mafrum on both sides, until golden.

   StoveFrying pan
4. 12
   Arrange the mafrum in a wide pot.

   Wide, shallow pot
5. 13
   Mix the tomato paste and water and pour over the mafrum.
6. 14
   Cover and cook over low heat 45 minutes, until a fork slides easily into the potatoes.

   StoveWide, shallow pot