After looking through several online recipes, and looking through my fridge to see what I have available, I decided to make Fish Kofta in Tomato Basil sauce. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Kofta, it is part of the meatball family and mainly prepared in the Mediterranean and middle eastern countries. I have made different variations of Kofta and it is interesting to see how different regions make their version of Kofta. I have never seen a Kofta recipe made with ground fish so I thank the Libyans for being creative and trying something other than beef and lamb!
Since this is my first cooking post I will make the disclaimer now that I am NOT a chef and haven't had any training. In fact I've made some pretty heinous dishes and have learned from my mistakes!
1. I thought I had enough fish in my freezer but I didn't so I used a mixture of fish and scallops. It all comes from the same place people!
2. Tarragon.... hmmm.... Tarragon... ??? WTF is Tarragon?!? (I told you I'm not a cook!) I had to google Tarragon only to find it is one of the four sacred spices in French cuisine (probably should make do that next). Since I'm lazy and didn't want to go to the store I also googled Tarragon substitutes and Marjoram, which I do have, was listed... done!
Other than that everything was followed per the original recipe!
So how did it turn out? Will R's career path be forever ruined by my feeble attempt at Libyan cuisine?!?
It looks like R will be living it UP in Libya!! As soon as I open the oven, I'm greeted by a seafoodesque basil smell! I decided to garnish the dish with some chopped spinach and kim-chee and voila! It is hard to describe the flavor as it is not fishy, but definitely not meaty either. The texture is soft and fluffy and every bite has a subtle hint of herbs. I went a little too far with the red pepper flakes but it was still very flavorful and delicious. I give myself two thumbs up and highly recommend this recipe to anyone looking to make some balls of seafood yumminess!!
DPM
Below is the recipe I found off of RecipeZaar.com:
INGREDIENTS
KOFTA
- 1lb of white fish (of your choice)
- 2 eggs
- 2 slices of white bread soaked in water then water squeezed out
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic chopped
- 1/4 cup of fresh parsley
- 1/4 tsp tarragon
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- flour
- 1/4 cup oil
- hot pepper flakes, salt, pepper (at your discretion)
SAUCE
- 1lb tomato diced
- 1/4 cup of fresh basil chopped
- 2 tbsp of tomato paste
- hot pepper flakes and black pepper (at your discretion)
DIRECTIONS
1. In a food processor, mix all KOFTA ingredients except for flour and oil
2. Once KOFTA ingredients are finely processed, make egg sized balls and dredge in flour
3. Heat oil in skillet and brown all sides of KOFTA
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
5. In food processor, mix all SAUCE ingredients until a tomato paste is formed
6. Place KOFTA in pan and pour SAUCE over and back for 30-35 minutes
INGREDIENTS
KOFTA
- 1lb of white fish (of your choice)
- 2 eggs
- 2 slices of white bread soaked in water then water squeezed out
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 2 cloves of garlic chopped
- 1/4 cup of fresh parsley
- 1/4 tsp tarragon
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- flour
- 1/4 cup oil
- hot pepper flakes, salt, pepper (at your discretion)
SAUCE
- 1lb tomato diced
- 1/4 cup of fresh basil chopped
- 2 tbsp of tomato paste
- hot pepper flakes and black pepper (at your discretion)
DIRECTIONS
1. In a food processor, mix all KOFTA ingredients except for flour and oil
2. Once KOFTA ingredients are finely processed, make egg sized balls and dredge in flour
3. Heat oil in skillet and brown all sides of KOFTA
4. Preheat oven to 350 degrees
5. In food processor, mix all SAUCE ingredients until a tomato paste is formed
6. Place KOFTA in pan and pour SAUCE over and back for 30-35 minutes
1. I thought I had enough fish in my freezer but I didn't so I used a mixture of fish and scallops. It all comes from the same place people!
2. Tarragon.... hmmm.... Tarragon... ??? WTF is Tarragon?!? (I told you I'm not a cook!) I had to google Tarragon only to find it is one of the four sacred spices in French cuisine (probably should make do that next). Since I'm lazy and didn't want to go to the store I also googled Tarragon substitutes and Marjoram, which I do have, was listed... done!
Other than that everything was followed per the original recipe!
So how did it turn out? Will R's career path be forever ruined by my feeble attempt at Libyan cuisine?!?
It looks like R will be living it UP in Libya!! As soon as I open the oven, I'm greeted by a seafoodesque basil smell! I decided to garnish the dish with some chopped spinach and kim-chee and voila! It is hard to describe the flavor as it is not fishy, but definitely not meaty either. The texture is soft and fluffy and every bite has a subtle hint of herbs. I went a little too far with the red pepper flakes but it was still very flavorful and delicious. I give myself two thumbs up and highly recommend this recipe to anyone looking to make some balls of seafood yumminess!!DPM
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