Middle Eastern Meatballs (Two Ways)

There is nothing better for dinner on a cold night than these deliciously tender meatballs fragrant with middle eastern spices with a tangy lemon sauce. Enjoy them alone or serve on a bed of cous cous, quinoa or rice. For an alternative you can make the meatballs without the sauce and bbq them like small kebabs and serve with hummus, pita and fresh parsley and tomato.

Meatballs

500g mince beef

½ red onion, diced

2 tbspn parsley

2 slices of bread, crusts removed, torn into small pieces

1 egg

zest of ½ a lemon

1 tspn salt

½ tspn cumin

½ tspn cinnamon

½ tspn paprika

½ tspn pepper

Sauce

1 tbspn olive oil

½ red onion finely diced

½ tspn paprika

½ tspn ground turmeric

½ tspn cumin

½ tspn cinnamon

¼ tspn cayenne pepper

1½ cups chicken stock

2 tbspn coriander leaves, chopped

Garnish

handful parsley leaves, finely chopped

handful coriander leaves, finely chopped

juice of half a lemon

preserved lemon (skin only) or lemon zest (both optional)

For meatballs, put onion and parsley in a food processor and pulse until finely chopped. Add bread and egg and pulse again. Add meat, zest and spices and process to a thick paste.

Moisten hands and shape into small ball and place on a tray lined with baking paper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 mins.

To make the sauce, heat oil over low heat and slowly cook the onion until soft and golden. Add the spices and stir for a minute. Add the stock and coriander and bring to the boil. Add the meatballs to the pan, gently shaking so the are immersed in the sauce. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Transfer to a platter or bowl, drizzle with lemon juice, scatter over parsley, coriander and preserved lemon or zest if you desire.

Note – if you are making the meatballs to bbq, finely dice the onion and fry it in a tbspn of oil until it is soft and golden. Finely chop the parsley. Omit the bread. And mix everything in a bowl by hand instead using a food processor. Moisten hands to roll the mixture into balls, small patties or kebab shapes and refrigerate for at least 30 mins before putting them on a well oiled bbq.