This dish is honestly soooo delicious, as it is packed with some tasty Moroccan flavours, as well as being high in protein and quite healthy too (even more so if you replace couscous for quinoa)! I have created 2 amazing couscous recipes for you, so that you can pick and choose as to which one you would like to make whenever you make this dish (or you could even make both if you are doing this for a lot of people!). They are both FULL of flavour, and would be perfect accompaniments to MANY other meat dishes…. or evennnn eaten on their own if you are vegetarian, with some creamy feta or goats cheese. This dish could be perfect for entertaining guests, or for a nice dinner at home, and will serve 3 people generously.

So lets get started….

Firstly I would prepare the mince, so it has some time to soak up the flavours before cooking. Add the 500g of lamb into a large bowl, add the tomato puree, salt/pepper, parsley, honey, pine nuts, garlic, paprika, harissa and ras el hanout, and mix well. Once its all mixed, leave it on the side while you make the couscous.

To make each batch of the couscous (for 3 people each), you will need to take 240 grams of couscous, add 300ml of boiling water, cover it with cling film and let the couscous ‘cook’ and absorb all the liquid for 6 minutes. While the couscous is ‘cooking’, you can prepare all the ingredients to put into the dish. If you want to make this gluten free, you can swap couscous for quinoa!

If you are making the pomegranate flavour…

Take out the fruit seeds from the large pomegranate (watch the tutorial here… click here), chop up the fresh mint, and toast the pine nuts in a pan, on a low heat for 5 minutes. Once the couscous is ready… add these ingredients to the couscous bowl…. add the oil, molasses and salt/pepper… and mix well!

If you are making the sundried tomato flavour…

If you are using dried sundried tomatoes, then you will need to soak them before you eat them. To do this…you will simply need to put some boiling water into a cup, add the tomatoes and let them soak for 10 minutes. If you have soft sundried tomatoes in oil in a jar, then you can use them straight away!  When the tomatoes are soft, you will need to chop them finely. Once the couscous is ready, finely chop the parsley and roughly chop the olives. Now add it all to the bowl along with the chopped tomatoes, olive oil and pepper.

Now you are ready to make your meatballs. Take the mince and roll it into around 12 medium balls ( 4 per person). Put a large frying pan on the stove at a medium high heat, and drizzle with a little oil of your choice.

Cook the meatballs in the pan for around 4/5 minutes on each side (or until they are brown in colour), and preheat the oven to 190 degrees. After the total 9/10 minutes of cooking, put the meatballs into the oven and cook for a further 4/5 minutes.

Once the meatballs are cooked, let them rest for a couple of minutes before serving. (I sometimes make a creamy harissa yogurt side-sauce to go with the meal, by simply adding 2-3 tbsp of natural yogurt and 1 tsp of harissa mixed together, per person).

Once you are ready to serve, add a few large scoops of the couscous of your choice to a plate, and place the meatballs and their juice on top….. AND ENJOY!

 

The recipe will serve 3 people…

Meatballs

• 500g 10 or 20% fat lamb mince
• 3 crushed garlic cloves
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 1/2 tbsp ras el hanout
• 1 tbsp harissa paste (mild to medium)
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 2 heaped tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• 1 tbsp honey
• 1 tsp of salt and 1 tsp of pepper
• 2 tbsp pine nuts (optional)

If you want to make this gluten free, you can swap couscous for quinoa!

Pomegranate and Mint Couscous

• 240g couscous
• 300 ml of water
• 1 large pomegranate
• 4 heaped tbsp chopped fresh mint
• 3 tbsp toasted pine nuts (toast on a low heat for 5 mins until golden brown)
• 4 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tbsp of pomegranate molasses
• 1 small tsp of salt and 1 tsp of pepper

Sun-dried Tomato and Parsley Couscous

• 240g couscous
• 300 ml of water
• Approximately 20 large sun-dried tomatoes (either dried and then soaked in hot water for 10 minutes until soft, or fresh from a jar in oil)
• 5 tbsp chopped fresh parsley
• Approximately 30 olives chopped
• 3 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tsp of pepper

Harissa Yogurt Dip (for 3 people)

• 6 tbsp Greek or natural yogurt
• 3 tbsp of harissa paste

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 Love Kitchen Olivia xx

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