Izmir köfte: A very Turkish traybake
An early favourite that's always worth revisiting, especially in the colder months.
Hey there,
Last week, I visited Izmir for the first time in many years. So what better recipe to share with you this week than the meatball traybake to which the city has given its name?
Izmir köfte was one of the first Turkish home cooking dishes I came across after moving to Turkey. An early favourite once I established my own kitchen in Istanbul.
Looking back at the recipe I published, I see a couple of signs of a newbie to Turkish cuisine. Nothing bad – the recipe as written is delicious! But there are a couple of things I do differently today.
I now parboil the potato, rather than give it extra roasting time. There’s something altogether more comforting about potato that has been boiled before heading into the oven, even if it’s not boiled until completely tender. It also removes the risk of the meatballs going dry and overcooked because the potatoes needed longer in the oven.
For the sauce, I’ve gone native. Instead of fresh or canned tomato, I use a mixture of tomato paste, red pepper paste and hot water. A generous tablespoon each of tomato paste and red pepper paste along with 400 ml hot water along with the specified olive oil will do the trick. More umami, more flavour – and definitely more Turkish.
As for the köfte (meatballs), I rarely keep fresh chilies at home. I instead go for pul biber (Aleppo pepper), which also adds more depth of flavour than most varieties of fresh chili. It’s also the more traditional way of flavouring the köftes. Alas, there’s usually a reason why something becomes the traditional way of making a dish.
Perhaps least notably, I now always go for the Turkish green peppers. Their slight bitterness work altogether better than red peppers for this dish, though there’s absolutely nothing wrong with using red peppers if you prefer it slightly sweeter (or you just don’t have Turkish green peppers at hand).
I shall be updating the recipe on the website shortly, but for now, feel free to adapt with the cues above.
With best wishes
Vidar 🧿