Middle eastern meatballs

For an alternative on Italian meatballs, try these tasty Middle Eastern Meatballs for a perfect freezable meal. 

MIDDLE EASTERN MEATBALLS

Prep: 5 mins
Cook: 60 mins
Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 20ml/1 tbsp of olive oil
• 4 tbsp of tomato paste
• 400g of tinned/canned diced tomatoes
• 500ml / 2 cups of water
• 1 pinch of caster sugar
• salt and pepper to taste
• 20ml / 1 tbsp of olive oil, extra
• 1 brown/yellow onion, finely diced
• 600g of lamb mince / ground lamb
• ½ tsp of allspice ground
• ½ tsp of cinnamon ground
• 1 pinch of turmeric
• ½ tsp of salt
• 20ml / 1 tbsp of olive oil, for cooking meatballs
• lebanese/arabic bread
• greek/natural yoghurt (yogurt)

Method

1. To make the sauce, heat the oil in a large saucepan, and fry the tomato paste for 1–2 minutes. Don’t let it burn.
2. Add the tomatoes, water, sugar, salt and pepper. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat and simmer while you make the meatballs.
3. In a saute pan or large frypan, heat the additional olive oil and fry the onion until translucent. You may need to add a little bit of water if they are sticking. Remove from the heat and allow to cool.
4. In a bowl, combine the lamb, allspice, cinnamon, turmeric, salt and cooled onions. Form into 5cm / 2″ balls and set aside.
5. Put the frypan back on the heat and add olive oil. Brown the meatballs in batches, then place them in the tomato sauce to continue cooking through. Simmer the meatballs for 30 minutes in the sauce.
6. Drizzle with yoghurt then serve with bread.

TIP
Also great with tabouli or a fattoush salad.