Braised Mediterranean meatballs in rich tomato sauce
This is the very first recipe I ever made up, and anyone that I've ever made it for has loved it! The preparation takes a while but once the meatballs are made it's just a matter of simmering them in the sauce, stirring gently to make sure the meatballs stay in one piece.
Ingredients
Serves: 2
- For the meatballs
- 225g (1/2 lb) lean lamb mince (or 50/50 pork and lamb mince)
- 1 small onion, very finely chopped
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 tsp ground cumin
- 1/4 tsp ground fenugreek
- 1/4 tsp ground coriander
- breadcrumbs
- olive oil for frying
- For the sauce
- 300ml (1/2 pint) of hot chicken stock
- 1 tin chopped tomatoes
- 1 tbsp Worcester sauce
- 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 1 tbsp ketchup
- 1 clove of garlic, crushed
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1 tsp basil
- 1/2 tsp sage
Method
Prep:20min ›
Cook:30min ›
Ready in:50min
- Combine all the sauce ingredients in a large bowl, mix thoroughly and set aside.
- In a large bowl and using a fork, thoroughly combine the mince, onion, egg and spices. Add breadcrumbs as necessary to bind the mixture together.
- Roll about a teaspoon of this mixture in your hands and then roll each meatball in a little plain flour. This will help to form a nice crust. Cover with clingfilm and leave in the fridge for about an hour to firm.
- Gently fry the meatballs in the olive oil over a moderate heat until golden brown.
- Quickly pour in the sauce mixture (expect quite a bit of sizzling here). Reduce to a simmer and let the sauce bubble for about 25 to 30 minutes, stirring gently until it gets to coating consistency.
- Serve with rice, plain couscous or pasta and plenty of bread.
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Reviews & ratings
Average global rating:
(3)
Reviews in English (3)
lovely absolutely lovely, well worth the effort. The prep i thought was fun and easy. Really tasty and flavorsome. I did manage to make more than the recipe stated this could be because i used slightly more mince than the recipe called for so i have frozen those. So next time we want meaballs all i will need to do is defrost the ones i have and make the sauce again, how easy is that??? Telboy1999 thanks so much for this recipe, i think its the best ive found so far - 08 Feb 2010
Lovely recipe-already had meatballs so just made sauce to go with them. Fabulous flavour,all family agreed. I'll definitely make this again - 15 Oct 2009
Already had lamb meatballs in the freezer so used those. Added a tablespoon of raw sugar and tablespoon of mint sauce. and this recipe turned out grand, - 18 Jan 2011