Potato Cakes Stuffed With Lamb And Pine Nuts

Total Time: 35 mins Preparation Time: 30 mins Cook Time: 5 mins

Ingredients

• 700 g potatoes, skins on
• 1 tablespoon flour, plus
• extra flour, for dusting
• salt
• 25 g butter
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 medium onion, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
• 3 cardamom pods, seeds only,ground to a powder (optional)
• 200 g finely minced lamb
• 50 g pine nuts
• 1 tablespoon tomato puree
• 3 tablespoons chopped parsley
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/4-1/3 cup oil, for frying
• 200 g greek yogurt, thinned with
• 2 tablespoons milk
• 1 clove garlic, crushed with
• salt

Recipe

• 1 start by making the dough.
• 2 boil the potatoes whole until cooked but not mushy.
• 3 drain well for 10 minutes and then, while they are still warm, peel and mash.
• 4 stir in the flour and season with salt.
• 5 set aside.
• 6 meanwhile, make the filling by melting the butter and olive oil together in a pan over a medium-high heat.
• 7 add the onion and cook until it is nice and soft, then add all the spices and cook for a further minute.
• 8 add the lamb and cook for 5-8 minutes until nicely browned.
• 9 stir in the pine nuts, tomato puree, water and the parsley.
• 10 season with salt and pepper and set aside until cool enough to handle.
• 11 to prepare the potato cakes, first wash and dry your hands, then flour them.
• 12 divide the dough into 4 balls.
• 13 on a well floured surface, flatten one ball to a disc about 1 cm thick.
• 14 put 2 tbsp of filling in the centre and bring up the sides of the dough to enclose the meat.
• 15 place on a floured surface, neaten the shape of the cake and patch up any cracks.
• 16 you should get a patty about 10 cm across and 3-4 cm thick.
• 17 repeat with the other dough balls.
• 18 at this point, you can keep the cakes in the fridge for 1-2 days-- just make sure there's enough flour to keep them from sticking-- but the fresher the better.
• 19 cover the bottom of a large frying pan with oil 3-4 mm deep and place over a medium to high heat until nearly smoking.
• 20 gently lift up the cakes and lower into the oil one by one.
• 21 do not turn until they are dark, golden and crispy.
• 22 fry the other side, dab off any extra oil and keep warm in a low oven.
• 23 mix together the yogurt with the garlic and salt.
• 24 serve with a salad and the yogurt as a garnish.