Name: Spicy Middle Eastern lamb meatballs with giant couscous
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: Middle East
Ingredients: 3 tablespoons vegetable oil; salt and pepper to season; 1–2 stems of mint, leaves picked and finely chopped, plus extra leaves to garnish; finely grated zest of 1 lemon; 20 g dried breadcrumbs; ½ small red chilli, deseeded and finely diced; 500 g lamb mince; 2 tsp cumin seeds; 2 tsp coriander seeds; ½ tsp ground cinnamon; 2 garlic cloves, sliced; 1 onion, finely chopped; 1 tbsp olive oil; 2 tbsp flaked almonds, toasted; pomegranate seed to serve; 1 tsp ground cumin; 2 tbsp tomato purée; 2 x 400 g tins chopped tomatoes; 1 x 400 g tin kidney beans, drained and rinsed; 200 g giant couscous

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Prue

By Prue Leith

Published 2018

About

I think these are the best lamb meatballs I’ve ever made, flavoured with toasted coriander seeds and fresh chilli. But almost all meatballs are good, and it’s worth experimenting. Just remember that breadcrumbs make the meatballs softer; that the leaner the meat, the drier the meatballs will be (fat in the mix enhances the flavour); and that if the meat is from a ‘grilling’ cut (i.e. tender enough to fry or barbecue), you can eat the meatballs as soon as they are fried, but if you are using