It’s no secret I love Lebanese food – hummus is practically a primary food group where my diet is concerned and I’m definitely no stranger to the island’s best Lebanese eateries.
One of my favourites is Beyroute Bistro and Deli . Since discovering it last April during my Easter break, I have been there more times than I can count. I’ve practically memorised the menu and the management knows me and my family by name. I also recently discovered that the owner is in fact a childhood friend from elementary school! (yes, Bahrain is a small, small place).
Since discovering it last April during my Easter break, I have been there more times than I can count. I’ve practically memorised the menu and the management knows me and my family by name. I also recently discovered that the owner is in fact a childhood friend from elementary school! (yes, Bahrain is a small, small place).
In any case, during one of my recent visits I tried the Pumpkin Kibbeh, which the waiter assured me was completely meat and dairy-free. It was unsurprisingly, delightful – little parcels of fragrant spinach chickpeas and walnuts covered in a slightly sweet and crisp coating of pumpkin and bulgur wheat. Although it wasn’t greasy at all – it was in fact deep fried, so I set about recreating a slightly healthier, baked version.
Pumpkin Kibbeh with Spinach, Chickpeas and Walnuts
Ingredients
- 1 cup steamed and pureed pumpkin
- 1 1/4 cup fine wholewheat bulgur cooked
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/2 tsp allspice
- salt and black pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 flax egg 1 tbsp ground flaxseed + 2-3 tbsp of warm water, mixed until gelled
- FOR THE STUFFING
- 1 cup frozen spinach (3 cups of tightly packed fresh spinach)
- 1.5 cups chickpeas (1 400g can, drained and washed)
- 1/4 cup toasted walnuts roughly chopped
- 1 medium tomato finely diced
- 1.5 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 large red onion finely chopped
- 3 cloves of garlic minced
- 1 tbsp of sumac
- 1 pinch of nutmeg
- olive oil or cooking spray
Instructions
- Start by steaming the pumpkin and pureeing in a food processor or using a strong fork. Other recipes call for draining the pumpkin of its moisture overnight but a few minutes of pressing it in a sieve did the trick for me.
- Cook the bulgur as directed on the package and season – it shouldn’t take too long as bulgur is already parboiled so keep a steady eye on it and make sure it doesn’t go mushy.
- Combine the pumpkin, bulgur, spices, flax egg and olive oil in a large bowl and mix thoroughly. You should have a mixture that easily spread and not too crumbly. If it’s too “wet” add in a little more bulgur or even some breadcrumbs would do the trick.
- Pre-heat your oven to 350 F/180 C, unless you plan on baking later.
- For the stuffing, in a pan sauté the onions and garlic on medium heat in some olive oil for 6-8 minutes until softened. Add in the chopped tomato followed by the spinach and stir through along with the sumac, nutmeg, lemon juice and salt and pepper to taste. Add the chickpeas (along with a little bit of water or vegetable stock if you feel the mixture getting dry – although this shouldn’t be the case if you’re using frozen spinach) and allow to simmer on low heat.
- In a separate pan, toast the chopped walnuts for a few minutes, stirring frequently, then add to the rest of the spinach mixture.
- Now it’s time to assemble. Grease a medium sized pan/casserole dish with some olive oil spray and start to layer the bottom of the dish with the pumpkin crust. You ideally want to split the mixture between the top and bottom layer. Spoon the stuffing on top as evenly as possible and cover with the remaining crust mixture, smoothing out with a spatula as needed.
- Sprinkle some freshly ground black pepper on top and bake for 25-30 minutes or until the edges are slightly golden
Served alongside a heaping salad of mixed greens, plum tomatoes and olives and fresh mint dressing, and a little soy yoghurt for dipping purposes.
While this recipe may seem a little daunting judging by the ingredient list, I assure you it’s pretty straightforward and the whole thing comes together in under 30 minutes. It’s also the kind of dish you could prep a day in advance and just pop in the oven for a weekday dinner.
The leftovers made for a fantastic packed lunch the next day – I’m not sure what it is but this kibbeh actually tastes better cold.
Simple, vegan, delicious, and waistline friendly – my kind of Lebanese food!
Hi,
Thank you for sharing this yummy recipe !
Did you know that since a number of lebanese go either vegetarian or vegan during lent and advent, lots of traditional recipes such as stuffed leaves/veggies, kibbeh, etc, have a “ate3” counterpart ? I looked a bit here : http://www.tasteofbeirut.com/tag/vegan/ and thought there might be some you’d enjoy 🙂
I love this recipe. I’m always looking for Lebanese dishes that are vegetarian . This sounds delicious and will definitely be making it soon. Thanks for sharing.
I was wondering if it freezes well? I wanted to make a few of them and freeze straight after I assemble them.
Hi Becky, thank you for your kind words, it’s definitely one of my most popular recipes so I hope you enjoy it. It definitely does freeze well, however I’d recommend cooking them for a little longer if you’re making them from frozen.
It can be frozen because they sell frozen boxed ones .
I made this for dinner yesterday. It was lovely and definitely going into my regular cooking schedule! 😉 I found the 20 minute prep time to be a bit optimistic, though — I think it took me nearly an hour — although I’m sure it’ll be quicker once I’ve made it a couple of times. Thanks for such a delicious recipe and introducing me to something other than pasta to cook with pumpkin!
Sounds yummy and can’t wait to try it with the pumpkins I’m growing in my yard this year. I’d like to point out that pumpkin and spinach are two foods very high in Lutein And Zeaxanthin, two carotenoids that are particularly good for eye health. So kibbeh is very good for the eyes!
Gonna try to make it this weekend, sounds delicious. Do you think this works with canned pumpkin puree?
Flavorful and delicious! May take a little longer prepping first time around. Also used canned pumpkin and only soaked the burghul and it came out great. Thumbs up.
Is the bulgur measurement for the dry or cooked amount? (I assume dry amount). Also, what are the approximate measurements of the casserole dish? Thanks!
This looks very yummy but I’m worried about what size pan to you. You wrote “medium size pan and it says ays it’s only 4 servings. So is an 8×8 good?
Hello Wendy! Apologies for the lack of clarity, I used an 8 x 12 pan but you can use 8×8 too, your slices will just be a bit thicker!
Hi, The photo almost looks like coarse bulgur, but I know fine bulgur is more common for this. Which did you use? And have you ever tried / do you prefer spinach over swiss chard? Thanks! Had kibbeh as a child and this looks so delicious; excited to try this weekend!
Hello Greg! The photo is not the best quality as this is an older recipe (before my food photography skills became what they are today ;)) Fine bulgur is perfect for this – I’ve updated the recipe to reflect.
I’ve never tried swiss chard myself for this recipe but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work – you could also do a mix of spinach and swiss chard! Hope you enjoy the recipe, do let me know how it turns out.