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The kibbeh can be used with other soups, and the beets soup is also very good on its own. Pair with white rice or plain couscous.
Note: Making the kibbehs takes a long time, even if not difficult. When sitting down to do it, make a large batch and freeze some for later use.
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Equipment

  • Large frying pan
  • Flat tray or cookies baking pan, covered with baking sheet.
  • Big pot

Ingredients
  

Kibbeh - dough

  • 1 kg Semolina Get extra ready in case you'll need it. Especially when making for the first time.
  • 2.5 cups Water
  • 4 tsp Salt
  • 4 tsp Oil

Kibbeh - filling

  • 1 Onion Large
  • 1.5 kg Ground beef
  • 1 pack Parsley (Italian)
  • 2 stalks Celery
  • 1-2 tsp Cumin
  • 1.5 tsp Paprika
  • 1 tsp Black pepper
  • 1 tsp Salt

Beets soup

  • 2 Onion
  • 4 Beet
  • 1 pack Chard leaves Red of white
  • 2 tbsp Tomato paste A small can
  • 1 tbsp Paprika
  • 1 tsp Black pepper
  • 1 tsp Salt
  • 2 liter Broth Chicken or Vegetables
  • 1/4 cup Lemon (juice)

Instructions
 

Kibbeh - dough

  • Mix all the ingredients to a soft, easy to work with dough. Add a bit water or semolina to get the right texture (similar to playdough).
  • Put it the fridge for an hour or so, while making the filling.

Kibbeh - filling

  • Chop the onions and fry on medium heat in a big pan until transparent.
  • Add ground meat and fry until slight brown and no liquid left. Be patience!
  • Chop the parsley and the celery stalks and add to the pan.
  • Add spices.
  • Taste the mix and add spices as you like.
  • Let it cool before making the kibbeh balls.
    If you have it, put in a large strainer to cool and drain extra oil so the mix would be easier to work with. But this is not essential.

Kibbeh - balls

  • Check the dough texture to make sure it's not too dry or to wet. Add a little semolina or water if need to. It should be feel like playdough.
  • Prepare a large tray with baking sheet over it. You can use cookies pan too.
  • Take a small piece of dough, about half of a golf ball size, and flat it with your hands as thin as you can without tearing it. It doesn't need to be perfect.
  • Put a teaspoon full of meat filling on top of the flat dough and wrap the dough around. Flip it in your hands to make a small, smooth ball.
    It might help to wet you hands with a bit of water but not too much so the dough would not get too sticky.
  • Put the finished balls on the tray. If you need to make layers, put baking sheets between each layer, otherwise the ball would stick to each other and break when you'll try to sperate them..
  • If possible, freeze the balls in one layer for about an hour. This would make them hard enough to be put in a bag for longer freezing time, without stick to each other.

Soup

  • Cut onions to big pieces.
  • Peel beets and cut to large pieces.
  • Cut chard to strips.
  • In a large pot, on medium heat, fry the onions until transparent.
  • Add beets and chard.
  • Add tomato paste, and mix.
  • Add broth, turn the heat up and bring to boil.
  • When boil, turn the heat down to low, add lemon juice, spices and mix.
  • Cook on low heat for an hour. Taste and add spices if needed.
  • Turn the heat up, add kibbeh balls, about 4-6 per person.
  • When the water are boiling, turn the heat down, and cook for another 20 minutes.
  • Mix the soup gently once or twice. Be carful not to break the balls.

Notes

  1. You can cook the kibbeh in any water based soup, for example chicken soup. They need to be cooked for 20 minutes at least.
    They are not suitable for thick texture soups like peas or mushrooms.
  2. You can fry the kibbehs in a pan or air-fryer until golden-brown.
    Served as a dish by itself, with a side of rice or mash potatoes.
    In this case, you might like to add slightly fried pine nuts to the meat mixture.
  3. The balls are freeze really well. It is strongly suggested to freeze for an hour in one layer and only then put them all in one bag or a container. Otherwise they would stick to each other and it would be hard to separate them without breaking the shell.
  4. No need to defrost before using them, even if frying.
  5. The first few times, you might struggle a bit to create the balls. Don't worry if they are not perfect, and remember that the meat is cooked in advance so there is no danger of eating it.
    You might like to search on YouTube for how-to videos.
  6. Un-used semolina can be kept in the fridge for later use.