Vegan Beetroot Kubbeh

To make vegan beetroot kubbeh, you don't need too many ingredients: a bit of semolina, some beetroot, spices, onion, tofu, and that's it.

Really.

It only looks very complicated, but the truth is it's a very simple dish to eat.

It does require a bit of "patchke" (as they say in Yiddish) – cooking the soup, preparing the filling, and slowly rolling the balls with the filling.

But I assume you already know (otherwise you wouldn't be here) that this is one of the most delicious foods in the world.

A bit about Vegan Beetroot Kubbeh

Let’s talk a bit about nutritional values and how you can incorporate beetroot kubbeh into a training routine, whether you're cutting or bulking.

Let's start with the semolina

Semolina comes from wheat (usually) and is the basic, coarse milling of the grain. If we continue to grind semolina, we get flour.

Since semolina comes from wheat, it contains gluten, which also slightly increases the protein content (though I admit it's quite negligible in this case).

Mainly, it helps bind the dough and turns the kubbeh from a soft dough into a stable, firm dumpling after cooking in the soup.

The starch in the semolina thickens the soup and makes it just about the most delicious thing in the world.

If you want to switch to gluten-free flour - that is entirely at your own risk. I have no idea what could serve as a proper substitute.

The filling

Instead of ground meat, I used grated tofu with some spices and a bit of white flour to bind the mixture.

Don't skip the flour. It's a very small amount, and after cooking, it provides the kubbeh with an excellent, melt-in-your-mouth texture.

You can replace it with any meat alternative you like, but it may not perform exactly as it does in this recipe.

The soup

Contains 2 beautiful large sliced beetroots, lemon juice, paprika, sugar, and a bit of salt.

That’s it.

Its incredible thick texture is achieved thanks to the starch released from the semolina into the liquid.

You can also substitute the beetroot with pumpkin (to make pumpkin kubbeh).

Nutritional values per Vegan Beetroot Kubbeh

• Each kubbeh (out of 25 total) with a tablespoon of sauce (including cooked beetroot) contains:
• 110 calories
• 5g protein
• 16.5g carbohydrates
• 2.7g fat (of which less than 0.5g is saturated fat)

Another beetroot recipe? Click here

Vegan Beetroot Kubbeh

Prep time 40 minutes

Cook time 20 minutes

Serving size 25 kubbehs

Calories 110 kcal

Ingredients

For the dough

• 500 g semolina
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1.5 cups water one and a half cups

For the filling

• 300 g tofu
• half onion
• 3 green onions stalks
• 1 handful parsley
• 1 level tsp Baharat
• 1/2 tsp poultry seasoning
• pinch salt
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder
• 2 tbsp wheat flour any gluten flour will work: white, whole, spelt, rye

For the soup

• 2 beetroots medium
• 1 heaping tbsp paprika
• 1 tsp sugar Relax, it's for an entire pot
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 cup lemon juice
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1.5 liters water

Instructions

Starting with the dough

1. Pour the semolina, salt, and one and a half cups of water into a deep bowl.

2. Using your hands (or a fork), mix well until all the water is absorbed by the semolina.

3. Set aside for the semolina to rest and "drink" the water for 30 minutes.

Making the filling

1. Finely chop the onion and green onion, mix, salt lightly, and set aside for 10 minutes.

2. Finely chop the parsley and set aside.

3. Using the coarse side of a grater (the large holes), grate the tofu and transfer to a bowl.

4. Add the flour, spices (Baharat, poultry seasoning, garlic powder, salt), onions, and parsley to the bowl and mix well.

5. Using your hands, form 25 small patties, place them on a tray, and put in the freezer or fridge to set.

Preparing the soup

1. Peel and cut the beetroots into cubes or any size you prefer (I like sticks).

2. Chop the onion.

3. In a large pot, sauté the onion.

4. Add the paprika, sugar, and salt.

5. Fry for a few seconds until the spices open up and release their aroma into the oil.

6. Add the beetroots and sauté for another minute or two.

7. Add 1.5 liters of water and the lemon juice and bring to a boil.

8. Lower the heat and cook for about 20 minutes.

Forming the kubbehs

1. Remove the filling from the fridge.

2. At this stage, the dough should be flexible, not too sticky, and easy to work with.

3. Using wet hands only (prevents the dough from sticking and makes it easier), pinch off some dough, about the size of a ping-pong ball.

4. Flatten the dough with your hands and roll it out as thin as possible on the palm of your hand.

5. Place the filling in the center and fold the dough over it.

6. Seal it from all sides with the dough and roll it into a neat, uniform ball.

7. If there are holes, you can seal them with a bit more dough.

8. Make sure you create as thin a layer of dough as possible; remember that the dough swells during cooking, and if it's too thick, the result will be a heavy, doughy kubbeh.

9. Once the kubbeh is round and beautiful, drop it into the soup and move on to the next one.

10. To prevent the kubbehs from sticking together, drop them into the pot slowly rather than all at once.

11. Cook the kubbehs for about 10 minutes in the soup.

12. Serve with plenty of white rice.

Notes

You can freeze the rolled kubbehs, and when you're craving beetroot kubbeh, just prepare the soup and drop the frozen kubbehs inside.

Pinch