Vegan Pumpkin Kibbeh Seniyeh with Swiss Chard

 
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My love for vegan and vegetarian foods is no secret, for some reason, my body does not crave meat as many would. My mother is not a big fan of this kibbeh but, I forgive her as she loves meat. I am sure my vegetarian and vegan followers will appreciate this recipe. The orthodox easter fasting is long, and many run out of ideas for dinner, so here you go, this is for the vegan, vegetarian and the Orthodox.

I enjoy eating this kibbeh cold next day as, by then the flavours and the spices had had a chance to develop. The texture of the kibbeh is very different than the meat kibbeh seniyeh, it is soft yet holds enough on the fork.

The world of kibbeh is endless, and I aim to try to teach you as many verities as possible from Syria to Iraq but, always with my own twist.

If you are a fan of kibbeh and you have always feared to experiment, follow my easy recipes and videos for Making the basic dough for traditional kibbeh, forming kibbeh ball for fried kibbeh and labanieh, express sheet pan kibbeh, vegan fried kibbeh, gluten-free rice kibbeh and soon my vegan kibbeh neyeh.

Remember that cooking is a reflection of you, so break the traditional rules of cooking and just follow the technique.

Prep time: 30 minutes

Baking: 40 minutes

Start to finish: 1 hour 10 minutes

Serving: 1 tray


Ingredients:

Filling:

  • 3 tablespoons olive oil, filling

  • 4 medium onion, diced

  • 300 grams swish chard

  • 3 teaspoons sumac

  • 1 teaspoon coarse coriander seed

  • 1 teaspoon cumin

  • 1 teaspoon 7 spice

  • ½ teaspoon black pepper

  • ½ cup chopped walnuts

Dough:

  • 2 cups fine bulgur

  • 400 grams pumpkin

  • 1 teaspoon cumin

  • 1 teaspoon turmeric

  • 3 teaspoons salt

  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper

  • 3/4 cup rice flour or potato starch

  • 1 small onion

1 baking tray 30x40 x 3cm

Method:

* Place the bulgur in and glass bowl and cover it with cold water just until it covers the surface by 1 to 1 ½ cm. Set aside until the liquid is absorbed.

* Chop the onion finely then, in a frying pan heat the olive oil and sauté the chopped onion for 1 minute or so until translucent.

* Chop the swiss chard leaves as seen in the video and add to the frying pan.

* Pound the coriander seed with a pestle and mortar and add it along with cumin, sumac, seven spice, black pepper and sauté the swish chard until softened.

* When cooked taste and adjust the salt as dark leafy greens and naturally salty.

* Add the walnuts and set aside to cool.

* Peel and chop the pumpkin then, follow the method for cooking pumpkin as in my butternut squash muffin video.

* When cooked make sure you drain it in a colander and squeeze the excess water out using your hands.

* Place the burghul in a food processor along with the cooked squeezed pumpkin and grate the onion.

* Add cumin, turmeric and salt then pulse the whole mix. You will need to scrape the sides with a spatula every now and again.

* Add the rice flour and pulse more then, place in glass bowl and mix with the spatula. Depending on how much moister you have you may need to add more rice flour or potato starch.

* Place in the fridge to rest for 1 hour at the least.

* Remove from the fridge and test if it holds well by making a ball, it should be soft but not too much, if you feel it needs more flour then add more.

* Split the dough into 2 equal parts.

* Oil the baking tray with vegetable oil then take a tennis size ball of the kibbeh and flatten it with the palm of the hand to a thickness of 1 cm then press on the tray. Start from the side nearest to you and continue until the first part of the dough is finished.

* Place the swiss chard filling on top of the first layer of kibbeh. Make sure you leave 1 cm clear from the sides.

* Now repeat the same method laying the second part of the dough.

* You have the option to cover the surface with a bit more vegetable oil as it will add colour during the baking process but, this is optional.

* Bake in a preheated oven 200 c fan setting for 30 to 40 minutes or until the surface is crisped.

* Leave it to cool aside and serve warm or cold.

Tips:

* You can use any variety of starch, quantity required may vary.

* You can add chickpeas to the filling, but then the number of carbohydrates will be too high.

* Try to squeeze as much liquid from the pumpkin as possible. You will need to follow your instinct as to how much starch to add.

* You can prepare a day ahead and store in the fridge.

* Suitable for freezing up to 3 months and bake from frozen adding 15 to 20 minutes extra to the baking time.

Per Serving: 2638 Calories; 106g Fat (34.1% calories from fat); 59g Protein; 403g Carbohydrate; 71g Dietary Fiber; 0mg Cholesterol; 7115mg Sodium