Kobete – A Sephardic recipe from our Israeli family. Similar to Turkish kobete, but made with a filling of meat, tomatoes, potatoes and pine nuts.
On our recent trip to Israel, my husband took a walk on the street where he grew up– Ness Ziona, which translates to Miracle of Zion. It’s a cute little street in Tel Aviv, not far from our hotel on the edge of the Mediterranean sea. As he neared the apartment building where he was born, he was flooded with memories of his mom’s cooking. She was Sephardic, seventh generation Israeli from Haifa, so many recipes my husband grew up with had a distinctly Sephardic influence. None of her home-cooked recipes made him happier than kobete.
Kobete is a meat-filled savory pie, a filling and hearty entree for a cold winter day. Similar kobete meat pies are made in Turkey with seasoned chicken as a filling. My husband’s father lived in Turkey for a short time on his way back to Israel, and the Turkish influence made an impression on their family cuisine. Their family recipe for kobete is different than the standard Turkish version; it features seasoned ground beef, potatoes, tomatoes and pine nuts. It is very tasty. Every winter, without fail, my husband requests it. As soon as we got back from Israel, I knew I had to make it for him.
Note: A reader pointed out that kobete is made in Turkey, but the dish originates in Crimean Tartar cuisine. My husband’s father’s family was from Crimea, so it seems clear that this family recipe is also influenced by their roots in Crimea. Fascinating!
This is a heavy entree, so best reserved for colder weather. The savory spiced meat, tomato and potato filling is hearty and full of flavor. A flaky, golden, sesame-coated crust bakes around the filling. I think this may very well be my husband’s all-time favorite dish. If he is having a rough week, a warm batch of kobete never fails to cheer him up. It’s cozy comfort food, just right for a chilly evening.
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Kobete - Sephardic Savory Meat Pie
Ingredients
- 1 package frozen puff pastry
- 2 pounds fresh tomatoes, diced
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 3 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 1/2 pounds russet potatoes (2 large baking potatoes), peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 pound ground beef or ground lamb, or a mixture
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1/2 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon turmeric
- Salt and pepper
- Dash of cayenne pepper
- 1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped
- 1/4 cup pine nuts (optional)
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
NOTES
Instructions
- Make sure your ingredients are prepared, diced and measured out before you begin. Take the puff pastry out of the freezer to defrost (usually takes 30-45 minutes). Place a rack in the lower part of the oven and place baking sheet on it. Preheat oven and baking sheet to 425 degrees F. While the puff pastry defrosts, prepare the filling using the following steps.Place diced tomatoes in a colander and sprinkle them with 2 tsp of sugar and 1/2 tsp salt. Let them sit while you prepare your other ingredients.Warm 2 tbsp. oil in a large nonstick skillet. Sauté the onion for about 5 minutes until it begins to soften. Add minced garlic and sauté for another minute until aromatic. Mix in the diced potatoes. Cover the pan and let the potatoes cook for 8 minutes, stirring every 2 minutes, until the potatoes start to get tender and onion turns golden. If the potatoes begin to stick, add a little water to the skillet and continue stirring to loosen them.
- After 8 minutes, pour the potato and onion mixture into a large mixing bowl and set aside. In the same skillet, add your ground meat, cumin, paprika, turmeric, cayenne, salt and pepper to taste (I usually use ¾ tsp of salt and ¼ tsp of pepper). Sauté the meat for a few minutes, breaking apart the meat with a metal spatula, until it is half-cooked—half pink, half browned, and well mixed with the seasonings.
- If you’re using pine nuts, toast them for a few minutes in a small skillet.Drain off the excess liquid from the tomatoes in the colander, squeezing them in the colander firmly to extract excess juice.
- Pour the ground meat into the mixing bowl with the potatoes, then add the chopped parsley, the drained tomatoes and the pine nuts. Stir to blend all ingredients.
- Roll out your two puff pastry sheets on a lightly floured surface to rough 11x15 inch rectangles. Lightly grease the baking dish. Gently spread one piece of puff pastry over the bottom of the baking dish.
- Pour the meat mixture into the puff pastry in an even layer.
- Lay the second piece of puff pastry over the top of the dish. Trim off the excess dough.
- Fold the edges over to make a ridge and seal using the tines of a fork.
- Whisk together the egg yolk with 2 tsp of water. Brush the top of the pie with a thin layer of the egg yolk.
- Sprinkle with sesame seeds. Pierce the top of the pie a few times to vent.
- Place the assembled pie onto the preheated baking sheet in the bottom of the oven. Bake the kobete for 30 minutes at 425 degrees F, then reduce heat to 350 degrees F. Continue baking for 30-40 minutes longer until the crust is golden brown and cooked through. Keep an eye on the pastry, if it's browning too quickly cover with a layer of foil. When finished cooking, remove from oven and allow pie to cool on a wire rack for 20-30 minutes before slicing. Serve warm.
Nutrition
Looks great! Kobete is eaten in Turkey but is not a Turkish dish but a Crimean Tatar one and it’s actually more traditional to serve it with meat than (chunks but also minced) chicken, yours looks exactly like my Tatar grandma’s 🙂
This is fascinating! My husband’s father’s family was from Crimea originally, so this makes sense. Thanks for sharing!
Hi I am planning to make this in a different shape. I want to roll it up like a log in the puff pastry and serve it along side a vegetarian pastry filled with butternut squash, goat cheese and mushrooms. I’ll let you know how it goes!
That should work just fine!
Wow. This is an excellent version of the Galician Empanada (northern Spain-Empanada Gallega). My maternal grandmother is from Galicia Spain and we have been eating a very similar version of this dish all of our lives. Hats off to your husband’s family for passing on this gem from generation to generation. As a genealogy enthusiast myself this gives me double joy. We don’t necessarily use phyllo dough, it can be made with bread dough, and the fillings can vary, and can be made ahead. In Cuba it is mostly made with a kind of shredded chicken Fricasé, but it can be made with any meat, including tuna or any kind of fish. Thank you for sharing.
I made this on the week end. It took me longer than I expected, but it was worth it, soooooo delicious!!! I served it with a homemade spicy tomato sauce, but it really didn’t need it. Also, I have frozen it cut into slices/portions. I gave a piece to a friend who said that it heated up from frozen well, probably best to thaw a bit first; try a bit of aluminum foil over the pastry in the oven, remove to crisp it up lastly.
This recipe has become one of our favorites! Perfect for cold weather. Thank you so much for sharing it!
It’s missing something. More spice, maybe. I found it to be neutral in flavor. I used meatloaf mix ( beef, pork, veal). Didn’t have access to lamb. That’s the only substitution I made. It won’t go to waste. Maybe it’s supposed to taste the way it is. It was a lot of work to be disappointed. Oh well.
Sorry to hear that Paul. The lamb adds a lot of flavor here. You can certainly up the spices if you felt it needed more punch. We don’t cook with pork or veal, so I can’t say if that’s what made the difference here. My family loves it exactly as written, and we love spice.
Wow, I am really excited to try this! Tori – loving your site, loving your descriptions/ photos and the whole idea of blogging your food memories. Having one child who has Celiac’s Disease and another with Type 1 Diabetes – the foods that everyone can eat (and likes) becomes smaller every day! I am so excited about this because my children will eat Shepherd’s Pie and this filling is so similar and I have slowly been introducing more Mediterranean flavors to them. I plan to leave some of the filling outside for my daughter to add to rice since she can’t eat gluten – OR I may attempt using a Gluten free pastry dough for small borekas if feeling ambitious. This meal may be called Tori Saves Sukkos! Will keep you posted 🙂
Enjoy Cheri! For your daughter, mashed potatoes might be a nice accompaniment (and more like a “shepherd’s pie” feel).
Do you think I could freeze this for a midweek meal on Succoth?
Hi Linda, I have never frozen this but I am guessing it will freeze and reheat nicely. Can’t say I’ve tested it to be certain, though.
Looks delicious, what would you serve with this? Salad or green veg? What’s traditional?
Hi Charlene, Tori’s assistant Ashley here. This recipe is pretty hearty, so I think a nice green salad would pair well with it.
Hi, has anyone tried this with a gluten free crust and if so what did you use? TIA
Looks fabulous, I am looking forward to making it!
thanks for a lovely recipe .
Here is one in return , its called Hatzilim me’maleh , and not a drop of cheese !
ingredients:
2 big aubergines is enough for 5 to 6 portions ( depends on how greedy you are)
500g mince beef or lamb
2 onions
4 cloves garlic
3 eggs
matzah meal
salt/pepper
oil for frying
1 tin chopped tomatoes
2 bay leaves
water
chopped red pepper
spices:
sweet papirka
caraway seeds
saffron
cardamom seeds/powder
black pepper corns
cumin
turmeric
cut aubergines in 2 inch door step rounds and make a cut through the centre of each one almost through to the end which will open like a mouth. Think of the letter “E” ( you are slicing open the thick round through the centre almost to the end so that you can stuff it )
mix mince meat with chopped onion and garlic
season with salt and pepper
open the mouth of each aubergine slice and stuff with a ball of meat so that the slice is gaping ( think of letter “V”) but dont break it in two.
dip the assembly in seasoned beaten egg and roll in matzah meal
briefly fry each aubergine/meat chunk in oil on all sides till browned
making a sauce:
fry chopped onion/garlic
1 tbl sweet paprika
1 tin plain chopped tomato in juice
add yemeni spice mix (HAWAYIL)
chopped red pepper
2 bay leaf
add 1 cup water
simmer till reduced by more than half
HAWAYIL:
dont leave out any spices, they are all important flavours
if you cant get any , rather dont make the recipe !
2 teaspoons freshly ground black peppercorns
2 tsp cumin ground
1 1/2 teaspoons of caraway seeds
1/2 teaspoon of saffron threads
1/2 teaspoon of cardamom seeds
1 teaspoon of turmeric
add stuffed aubergines to a spacious casserole dish
cover with sauce and add 1 cup water
bake in very hot oven (200 deg C) for about 1 hour
spoon over the juices
be’teavon !
Wow sounds fantastic Reuven! Will try it soon 🙂