Baked Kofta

I have been a little lax in my blogging lately.  I picked up a cookbook by Silvena Rowe at the library, Purple Citrus and Sweet Perfume.  I am very excited about this cookbook.  The baked kofta was the first thing I made, mainly because I had all the ingredients at my house.  It was a quick lunch and very delicious.

Baked Kofta: 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Soak 1 slice of bread in 1/3 cup milk.  I used wheat bread and it was fine.  Squeeze out excess milk and crumble into a bowl, along with 7 oz ground beef, 7 oz ground pork, 1 grated onion, 3 tbsp finely chopped parsley, 1 large egg, 1/2 tsp ground cumin, 1/4 tsp red chili flakes, 1/4 tsp sweet paprika, salt and pepper.  Mix and divide into 12 meatballs.  Slightly flatten them and dredge in flour.  Brown in olive oil, each side about 4 minutes.  Put in baking dish.

Sauce - Using the same pan that you cooked the kofta, add 2 tbsp olive oil, 3 large tomatoes (chopped), 2 tbsp tomatoe paste, 1 tsp sweet paprika, 1 tsp dried oregano, salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring, 5 minutes.  Pour over koftas and bake for 20 minutes.