Kafta is lebanese for ground beef (or lamb) mixed with parsley, onions and spices. The kafta recipe in my dish is based on Hadia’s Lebanese cuisine’s delicious grilled kafta kebabs . I combined the meat with tomatoes, potatoes and onions for a delicious main dish roasted in the oven. My mother used to prepare this meal as we were growing up. It’s a traditional Lebanese dish. Mom used horizontal layering. I chose to layer in vertical lines which makes for a prettier dish.

For the kafta :

• 4 lbs 93% grass fed ground beef
• 4 medium onions
• 2 bunches of chopped parsley
• 1 Tsp Allspice
• 1 Tsp black pepper
• 1 Tbsp salt
• a pinch of cayenne pepper

I put the onion in the food processor. After blending, I removed most of the water and tossed the onions over the ground beef into a bowl. I added parsley, spices and mixed all ingredients well. I then divided the meat into small patties.

Other ingredients you will need:

• Medium sized yellow potatoes, washed and sliced
• Medium size tomatoes (I used vine tomatoes) washed and sliced
• Medium size sweet onions, sliced
• 2 28oz jars of crushed tomatoes
• olive oil
• 1 Tbsp Aleppo peppers (to taste)

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Assembling the dish

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I covered the bottom of the pan with a thin layer of olive oil. Then I topped the oil with 1/2 a can of crushed tomatoes before layering slices of tomato, potatoes,onion, kafta as shown in the photo.

When the pan was filled, I mixed Aleppo peppers, salt, black pepper with the remaining crushed tomatoes and spooned it on top. I covered with aluminum foil and baked in the oven on 400F for an hour. I then removed the foil, poured out a bit of the liquid and baked uncovered for another 30 min.

I served the roasted kafta with a side of vermicelli rice, tabouli and blanched asparagus.