Solution: Spinach and Lamb

The husband's weekend cooking request was "hmmm, something with spinach....and something with ground beef." A longer discussion ensued and I asked him:

"Like what? Spinach how?"

"Well, what about a souffle? Like my mom makes."

(grin) "Ok, but then what do you want me to do with the ground beef?"

"Put it in the souffle?"

(Short discussion about how ground meat is heavy and it would be pretty difficult to get a souffle to rise with meat mixed in...)

"Well, I don't know - you're the innovator in the kitchen. Somehow ground meat and spinach...."

I thought a bit and then asked: "well, what about ground lamb instead?"

"Ok."

A long time ago I had a middle-eastern dish a few times at parties called "Stuffed Kibbeh." I never made it before, although I have been tempted a few times. It's basically a yummy baked meatball with an inside and an outside. Inside is ground lamb and pine nuts and Syrian spices. Outside is a mixture of cracked wheat, lamb and spices. It looks like this:



So I thought about the Kibbeh as a base for this spinach/lamb/souffle request. I could bake it in layers, flat, and then afterwards simply pour the souffle on top and bake again.

So that's what I did. Looked like this from start to finish...








Results?
Very tasty - homey comfort food, but we both agreed missing SOMETHING. Just something to make it really pop in a way. Maybe a yogurt sauce with lots of fresh mint that one pours over it at the end - rather than the dollop of yogurt on the side.

But all in all, a success.

Leftovers? Yes...will be eating this for awhile. Need to learn how to cut recipes down better...