Mrs

[The Dogmother]

Since I first made this recipe, I've been asked to make it time and again by Rosie, so I have made a large batch of the meatballs and sauce and frozen in portion sizes.

 

Ingredients

 

2 tbspns olive oil

2 red onions, very finely chopped

4 garlic cloves, crushed

2 tsp each ground cumin and coriander

1 tsp Ras al Hanout (Moroccan spice blend)

400g can of chopped tomatoes

½ tsp sugar

A couple of handfuls of finely chopped mint

500g lean minced lamb

8 dried apricots, finely chopped

50g fresh breadcrumbs

1 egg (free range of course), whisked lightly

Note; if you like your meatballs spicy, then add a wee bit of Harissa paste to the mix but be sure to mix it in well

 

Method

 

Heat 2 tspns of the oil in a pan and soften the onions for 5 minutes. Add the garlic and spices and cook for a few minutes more. Spoon half the onion mixture into a bowl and set aside to cool. Add the tomatoes, sugar and seasoning to the remaining onions in the pan and simmer for about 10 minutes until reduced.

 

Meanwhile, add the mint, lamb, apricots, egg and breadcrumbs to the cooled onions, season and mix well, and then shape into small meatballs with your hands.

 

Heat the rest of the oil in a non-stick pan and fry the meatballs until golden. Stir in the sauce with a splash of water and gently cook everything for a few minutes until the meatballs are cooked through.

 

I serve with rice, soured cream and a green salad, Rosie likes it in pitta bread with soured cream and grated cheese.

 

* recipe adapted from BBC Good Food magazine.

[chickencam]

Sounds yummy, we like meatballs here

 

Although OH says we are not allowed to eat rice, after our bumper potato crop everything has to be served with spuds.

[The Dogmother]

Try this then....

 

Par-boil some taters that are cut into roughly 1" chunks, then toss in a mixture made up of the following (you can vary this to taste) olive oil, salt and pepper, smoked paprika, chopped basil leaves, chopped rosemary, crushed garlic... until the taters are coated. Transfer to an oven-proof dish and then bake, I add some grated cheese part way through the cooking as that's Rosie's favourite.

 

They are a keen favourite in our house and I tend to add chunks of various other veggies too.

[Chucky Mama]

Thanks a lot Clare That's all I need to read when I am on day 2 (can't eat anything other than cardboard and sawdust) of the Harcombe Diet

[The Dogmother]

Oooops!

[chickencam]

Thanks for the spud idea, sounds like posh cheesy chips

[Alis girls]

Very yummy - will try when I have time

[scarlettohara]

OOh thanks for that - I have a tin of Ras Al Hanout that I hardly ever use