Pork & potato kofte

Name: Pork & potato kofte
Yield: 6
Ingredients: FOR THE MEATBALLS; 600g potatoes; 3 onions (300g); 1 teaspoon cumin seeds; 1 teaspoon smoked paprika; 500g pork mince; 5g fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped; FOR THE BLACK-EYED BEANS; 1 onion (100g), finely diced; olive oil; 2 x 400g tins of black-eyed beans; 300g frozen spinach; 1 lemon

With black-eyed beans

Not Too Tricky

serves 6

Recipe From

HOME

By Hasan Semay

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Ingredients

FOR THE MEATBALLS

600g potatoes

3 onions (300g)

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

1 teaspoon smoked paprika

500g pork mince

5g fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped

FOR THE BLACK-EYED BEANS

1 onion (100g), finely diced

olive oil

2 x 400g tins of black-eyed beans

300g frozen spinach

1 lemon

Method

Peel the potatoes and grate them on the fine side of a box grater – I like to do this on their longest side. Once all your potatoes are grated, drain off all the moisture using a clean tea towel or some muslin, if you have any. Peel and finely grate the onions into a bowl.
In a dry pan over a medium heat, lightly toast the cumin seeds for around 3 minutes, until fragrant and beginning to brown. Grind them in a pestle and mortar.
Place the grated potato in a mixing bowl, season with a pinch of salt and black pepper, and add the smoked paprika and ground cumin. Add the pork and the grated onions along with their juice. Add the chopped parsley and give it all a good mix (I like to mix it for at least 5 minutes, squeezing the mix through my fingers to make sure everything is evenly distributed). In Cyprus we just shape these into little torpedoes or small meatballs, it’s up to you.
In a small frying pan, sweat down your finely diced onion really slowly in olive oil and with a good amount of salt for about 10 minutes, until soft and sweet but without any colour.
Add the tinned beans, including any tinned liquid, along with the frozen spinach. Cook for a further 6 to 8 minutes, or until the spinach has thoroughly defrosted and the beans are cooked through. Remove from the heat, squeeze in the juice from the lemon and drizzle with olive oil. Keep warm until ready to serve.
Heat 4 tablespoons of oil in a large pan and fry the koftes for approximately 10 minutes, turning regularly until they’re a beautiful golden brown and the potatoes and pork are cooked through. Serve with the black-eyed beans and a drizzle of olive oil.