Spiced autumn meatballs

Serves: 4
Course: Main Course
Cooking Time: 1 hr 0 mins

Ingredients

  • Serves 4
  • Meatballs
  • 250g minced lamb
  • 250g minced beef
  • 1 large onion grated
  • 4 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 30g ground almonds
  • 1tsp sweet smoked paprika
  • 1/2 tsp chilli flakes
  • 1tsp harissa paste
  • Salt and pepper
  • Pinch cinnamon
  • Few knobs butter
  • FOR THE SAUCE
  • 4 cloves garlic, crushed
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 30 g butter
  • 1 tin chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tsp smoked paprika
  • 2 bay leaves
  • Squeeze honey (two big ones)
  • Juice and zest of 2 lemons
  • 1 tsp harissa

Preheat an oven to 200 degrees/gas 4.

To make the meatballs, place all the ingredients in a bowl and with clean hands, mix them together thoroughly. Form into small balls – about one-and-a-half inches across. Arrange on a roasting dish, sprinkle with a few small knobs of butter, and bake for about 15 to 20 minutes.

Meanwhile, make the sauce by sweating the garlic and cinnamon stick in the butter until soft, and then adding the rest of the ingredients. Cook over a medium heat for about 10 minutes until the flavours are well mingled. Remove the meatballs from the oven, pour the sauce over them and bake for another 25 minutes. Serve with a crunchy green salad.

Domini Kemp

Domini Kemp

Domini Kemp, a contributor to The Irish Times, is a chef and food writer