Moroccan inspired spiced meatballs with fruity couscous.

These spiced meatballs have all the flavours of North Africa, they're spiced with earthy cinnamon and cumin, and in a rich sauce, with a light chilli kick.

Its a great midweek meal as they don't take much time at all, can be mixed in advance, all cook in one pan and the side of couscous couldn't be anymore straightforward.

An easy dish, that packs a good punch of flavour.

Tip - don't skip the Greek yogurt - it makes it!

Recipe

Serves 4

Difficulty : Easy

Ingredients

Meatballs

500 g Minced lamb

1 small onion - grated or chopped very fine

2 grated/minced clove garlic

Small handful chopped parsley leaves

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

salt and pepper

Sauce

1/2 chopped onion

1 chopped red pepper

1 grated clove garlic (or 1 teaspoon of EasyGarlic/ready minced)

1 chopped small chilli (a medium or mild heat, if its a hot chilli add less - to personal taste) - Optional

1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

1 large 400 g tin chopped tomatoes

200 ml vegetable or chicken stock

salt and pepper

For the spiced CousCous

160g dried couscous

200ml boiling water mixed with 1 chicken or vegetable stock cube

½ lemon

pinch cinnamon

small handful of raisins

Greek yoghurt to serve

1 – Mix the all the meatball ingredients together well and leave for a few hours in the fridge

2 - Roll the meatballs into about the size of ping pong balls and pan fry them into batches, removing to a plate when done and set aside.

3 - Drain any excess oil out the pan and then fry the onion, garlic, pepper and chilli if using for a few minutes, add the cinnamon, pour over the tin of tomatoes and stock and stir well, simmer for about 10-15 minutes until the sauce thickens up.

4 - Add the meatballs to the sauce and simmer for another few minutes.

5 – Whilst that’s cooking put the couscous, cinnamon and sultanas in a bowl and pour over the boiling water with stock, along with the juice of half a lemon and cover with a plate for 10 minutes to absorb all water, fluff up with a fork before serving

6 – Serve together with some flatbread, salad or roasted vegetables and Greek yoghurt.

You can bake these beauties in the oven too - simple roast the meatballs at 200*c for 20 minutes, giving the pan a shake half way through to make sure they don't stick - make the sauce in a saucepan and once thickened tip over the meatballs and roast for a final 5 minutes.

Squash and pumpkin are great roasted veg to have with this, simple cut, and roast with some olive oil and a sprinkle of cinnamon and brown sugar, till cooked through.

Enjoy!