Kafta bil Saniyeh

Kafta bil saniyeh is spiced minced lamb patties baked in a tray with potato and tomato until everything browns together. It's a Lebanese home dinner built entirely around one dish going into the oven, and one of the few kafta preparations that skips the grill and skewer entirely.

What it actually is

Minced lamb is worked with grated onion, parsley and a mix of spices until smooth, then shaped by hand into flat patties rather than the skewered logs used for grilled kafta. The patties are laid in a wide tray between rounds of sliced potato and tomato, brushed with oil, and baked until the potatoes soften, the tomatoes collapse into a light sauce, and the tops of the patties brown.

Because it's baked flat in one tray rather than grilled over a flame, the dish comes out with its own sauce built in — the tomato and rendered fat from the lamb pool at the bottom, which the potatoes soak up as everything finishes cooking together.

How it's served

• Straight from the tray, patties, potato and tomato served together, not separated onto different plates.
• With rice or extra flatbread, for the sauce that collects at the bottom of the tray.
• As a home-style main, the whole tray often brought straight to the table rather than plated in the kitchen.

Writing it on a menu

• Say that the kafta is baked, not grilled; guests expecting a charred skewer should know this is a tray dish with its own tomato-and-potato sauce.
• Mention the potato and tomato as integral parts of the dish, not a side; they cook in the same tray and share the same sauce.
• Note if a beef version is available alongside the traditional lamb, since both exist depending on the kitchen.
• Flag that it's a whole-tray dish, suited to sharing or a larger portion rather than a small single plate.