Aubergine & Olive Kubbeh Pie

I love this pie. It’s so delicious and such a pleasure to make. It’s also a real show stopper so it is a great option for a Birthday meal of weekend family get-together.

Traditionally kubbeh are made from minced lamb meat and pine nuts stuffed into burghul and shaped into small oblongs and deep fried. The women in my family would often spend a whole days making hundreds of them for special occasions such as Christmas, Easter, Christenings or parties. We always have a warm plate of them making the rounds as we open presents on Christmas morning. The ‘mid-week’ version of this in Palestine is to make a pie, so the same ingredients go into a pan to be baked. I have wonderful memories of getting home and smelling this pie baking in the oven. It’s this pan version that I have altered to make this incredibly delicious and very healthy vegetarian and vegan Aubergine & Olive Kubbeh Pie.

Make it this weekend. It is incredible!

Burghul or bulgar wheat can be found in most UK supermarkets.

Serves 6

ingredients
for the burghul crust
4 medium potatoes, peeled and boiled
1 cup burghul, soaked in warm water for 10 minutes
1 tbsp rye flour
1 tsp dried basil
½ tsp cumin
¼ tsp cinnamon
1 pinch cayenne
4 tbsp olive oil

for the filling
3 large aubergines peel and sliced
3 tbsp Himalayan pink salt
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
¾ cup of purple/ black olives
6 plum on-vine-tomatoes, large chop
1 medium onion, finely chopped
1 shallot, finely chopped (can be replaced with 1 clove of garlic)
1 handful of pine nuts
1 pinch cinamon

method

for the burghul crust
1. Mix all the burghul crust ingredients together. It should be a soft mixture but should not be wet

for the filling
1. Sprinkle the 3 tbsp of pink salt on the aubergines, and rub on. Put the salted aubergines into a sieve over a pot and weigh them down with a small plate and a few cans for 30- 60 minutes. This will draw all the excess liquid and sour taste out of the aubergines.
2. Soften the onion and shallots in the olive oil over a medium heat for 10 minutes.
3. Add the tomatoes, olives and aubergines (once rinsed) to the onions and add a pinch of cinnamon.

assembling and baking the pie
1. preheat your oven to 200C
2. put the potato bulghar mix in the bottom of a ceramic oven dish and pat down so its even and flat
3. cover with the aubergine mixture
4. put a second layer of the potato mix on top and level it out so its smooth
5. score square shapes onto the top
6. use the pine nuts to decorate each square however you like. I like making little flowers.
7. bake in the oven for 30 minutes until golden brown.  Serve with Fattoush Salad.