Name: Moroccan Kefte – meatball tagine
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 40 min
Total time: 1 h 40 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 400 g minced beef; 1/4 very finely diced red onion; 2 tbsp finely chopped parsley; 1 egg; 2 clove garlic finely chopped; 1 red chilli finely chopped; 1 tsp ground paprika; 1 tsp ground cumin; 1/2 tsp ground coriander; 1/2 tsp ground turmeric; 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon; 1/4 tsp ground clove; 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg; salt and ground black pepper to taste; 2 tbsp olive oil; 3/4 onion chopped; 2 clove garlic finely chopped; 4 dried bird's eye chilis crumbled; 2 tbsp tomato puree; Large pinch of saffron threads crumbled; 1 tbsp chicken stock concentrate; 1/2 lemon juiced; 1 tbsp parsley chopped; salt and ground black pepper to taste

Instructions

Meatballs

Add all of the ingredients to a mixing bowl. Mix the meat massaging thoroughly with you hands to ensure good flavour and texture.
Using a spoon or your hands make small walnut-sized bowls of the meat mixture. Arrange these meatballs in the dish you are going to bake them in.

Choose a wider shallow baking dish as the meatballs need to stick out above the sauce.
Rest the meatballs in the fridge until you are ready to use them.

Sauce

Add 1 tbsp of olive oil to a frying pan and heat over a medium heat. Add the onions and fry until the onions soften.
Add the garlic and crumbled dried chilis and fry for 30 seconds. Make sure nothing catches.
Add the tomato puree and fry for 30 seconds stirring constantly.
Add the stock concentrate plus a cup of water (or just a cup of stock) and a large pinch of saffron threads crumbled. Simmer for 3-4 minutes.
Add the lemon juice and chopped parsley and take off the heat. The sauce can now rest until you are ready to cook dinner.

Putting the dish together

Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC with fan.
Pour the sauce over the uncooked meatballs. The meatballs should stick out above the sauce so you may need to adjust the quantity of sauce depending on your baking dish. Either use less sauce or add a little water.
Bake for 25-30 minutes until the meatballs are browned on top and cooked through. Serve with couscous or rice and some buttered vegetables.

To test for doneness you can take a meatball out of the sih and cut it in half.

Moroccan Kefte – meatball tagine