Bulgur Kubbeh Cooked in Lemony Broth

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Kubbeh

1. 1
   Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat.

   ⚙ Pan-fryingStoveFrying pan
2. 2
   Add the onion and fry 5–8 minutes, stirring now and then, until the onion is soft and translucent and starts to turn golden at the edges. If it browns too fast, lower the heat.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove

   💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.
3. 3
   Raise the heat to medium-high and add the meat. Press it flat over the bottom and leave it for 2–3 minutes without stirring, until a brown crust forms.

   Stove

   💡Brown ground beef in the pot without pressing it: leave it as one 'cake' for a few minutes until a brown crust forms, then break it into chunks. Deep browning = deep flavor.
4. 4
   Break it up with a wooden spoon and fry for 5–7 more minutes, stirring, until no pink is left and the meat browns.

   StoveWooden spoon
5. 5
   Add the baharat, salt and black pepper and fry another 1–2 minutes, until fragrant.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove
6. 6
   Add the pine nuts and mix well.

   💡Pine nuts and other nuts get a deeper flavor when you first toast them 2–3 minutes in a dry pan, until lightly golden.
7. 7
   Remove from the heat and cool the filling completely, about half an hour.

   💡Fill dough only with completely cooled filling: a hot filling softens the dough, makes it hard to seal and makes the pastry soggy inside.
8. 8
   Soak the bulgur 15 minutes in hot water, drain and squeeze well.

   ⚙ SoakingBowl

   💡Soak in plenty of water, well above what's being soaked: legumes and grains swell and drink water, and whatever sticks out stays hard. Drain well before continuing.
9. 9
   Grind the bulgur in a food processor with the flour, salt, black pepper and cinnamon, into an even dough.

   ⚙ Grinding in a Food ProcessorFood processor

   💡In a food processor, grind in short pulses and check between pulses: it's easy to go from coarse to paste. (Sesame for tahini, on the other hand, is ground continuously.)
10. 10
    Take a ball of dough, press a cup into it with your finger, fill with the cold filling and seal well.

    💡Wet your hands with cold water between one kubbeh and the next: the dough doesn't stick, and you can shape a thin, even wall.
11. 11
    Set the kubbeh aside in a single layer until the soup is ready.

To assemble

1. 12
   Bring to a boil in a wide pot the stock.

   StoveWide, shallow pot
2. 13
   Stir in the lemon juice. Taste: the soup should be tangy. Adjust to taste.

   💡Balance at the end, once the flavors have come together: add sour, sweet and salty a little at a time, tasting between additions.
3. 14
   Add the kubbeh to the boiling soup. Turn down the heat and simmer 25 minutes, until the kubbeh float and are cooked through.

   ⚙ SimmeringStove

   💡Add the kubbeh only to soup that is already boiling, and don't stir with a spoon at first: in lukewarm liquid the dough softens and falls apart.

   💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.
4. 15
   Serve hot in bowls.