Moroccan meatball tagine with lemon & olives
Cooking time
Prep: 25 mins Cook: 40 minsSkill level
EasyServings
Serves 4A wonderfully aromatic North African lamb casserole with a citrus tang - great for dinner parties
Nutrition and extra info
Additional info
- Freezable
Nutrition per serving
- kcalories
- 394
- protein
- 31g
- carbs
- 11g
- fat
- 26g
- saturates
- 9g
- fibre
- 3g
- sugar
- 8g
- salt
- 1.7g
Ingredients
- 3 onions, peeled
- 500g minced lamb
- zest and juice 1 unwaxed lemon, quartered
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- pinch cayenne pepper
- small bunch flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- thumb-sized piece ginger, peeled and grated
- 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
- pinch saffron strands
- 250ml lamb stock
- 1 tbsp tomato purée
- 100g pitted black kalamata olives
- small bunch coriander, chopped
- couscous or fresh crusty bread, to serve
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Method
- Put the onions in a food processor and blitz until finely chopped. Put the lamb, lemon zest, spices, parsley and half the onions in a large bowl, and season. Using your hands, mix until well combined, then shape into walnut-sized balls.
- Heat the oil in a large flameproof dish, or tagine with a lid, then add the remaining onions, ginger, chilli and saffron. Cook for 5 mins until the onion is softened and starting to colour. Add the lemon juice, stock, tomato purée and olives, then bring to the boil. Add the meatballs, one at a time, then reduce the heat, cover with the lid and cook for 20 mins, turning the meatballs a couple of times.
- Remove lid, then add the coriander and lemon wedges, tucking them in between the meatballs. Cook, uncovered, for a further 10 mins until the liquid has reduced and thickened slightly. Serve hot with couscous or fresh crusty bread.
Recipe from Good Food magazine, February 2012
Comments, questions and tips
Comments
Incredible! Made from beef I do not like lamb, do not add coriander - I forgot to buy! Garlic (with onions base) and pine nuts added. Also, I do not have a casserole cooked on the common adhesive frying pan, was still quite satisfactory result!
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Very good, agree a little too lemony so had to add more tom puree near the end. Great tasting meatballs, it made loads so only cooked half and froze the rest to have with pasta later in the week. Cooked in a tagline in the oven and just stirred in some wild & white basmati for an extra 20 mins cooking time, worked perfectly.
Very yummy. Made this for a dinner party. Didn't have saffron so used tumeric to add the color. Also just finely chopped the onion rather than using a blender. Only used 1 big onion for 750g of minced lamb and 1 onion for frying though and i thought that was plenty. Also left out the lemon wedges at the end as suggested by the others. It was already pretty lemony!
This is brilliant dish. Made it together with Moroccan spiced cauliflower almond soup as a starter and Moroccan aubergine chickpea salad, served with pita bread reheated in oven, together created real Moroccan experience. Didn't altered recipe except adding one tbsp of honey to balance lemon and tomatoes acidity and adjusting spice proportions (cooking is art not science you need to taste and experiment) . Highly recommend.
Yummy, didn't add all the lemon as I put some in the cous cous and added apricots and sultanas to the cous cous. I added some crushed garlic to the lamb mix and also the tagine. Made it the day before and re heated was perfect. I also substituted the saffron for turmeric very yummy and a new favourite with everyone.
Totally delicious, this recipe is a must! In fact I can honestly say that it's one of my favourite recipes ever. Easy to make, I didn't alter anything and it tasted fab. I'm not much of an olive fan but they tasted lovely. Great for a family meal or for a special dinner. I served it with brown rice. yum
I think this is an excellent recipe, and like others here I was surprised at just how good it was. Well worth making. I didn't use as much lemon as suggested, just half that amount, but everything else was just as per the recipe.
This would also make a great dinner party dish as it appears more complex than it actually is!
