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Leon moroccan meatballs. Pitch food



Gus is home for a night and has brought a mate with him. They are up in town tomorrow making a competitive pitch.A bit of a case of like father like son I suppose.I hope it goes better than my first pitch ... I was spectacularly nervous and totally crap!
I decided to provide some hearty sustenance in the form of the Leon meatballs recipe from their excellent and eponymous book.
As with most of Allegra McEvedy's cooking it is good easy family food ... this one will definitely make it to the 'regular' list.
I served it with a salad and some couscous made with chicken stock, a little preserved lemon and a large handful of fresh mint stirred through after it had been fluffed up

ps I made one change which was to leave out the flatbread as I prefer my meatballs 100% meat but I'm sure they are equally brilliant with the bread left in

pps I also dialled down the Harissa a bit (1/2 tablespoon instead of 1) for Martha's sake and put some on the table for the boys to spice things up to their own taste.

The meatballs

One and a half wholemeal flatbreads (the smaller size, roughly 20cm in diameter) or pitta

120ml milk

1kg minced lamb

A small bunch of parsley, finely chopped

A small handful of mint, finely chopped

1tsp dried oregano

2 cloves of garlic, chopped

The sauce

30ml olive oil

3 cloves of garlic, crushed

2 x 800g tins of chopped tomatoes

1tbsp harissa paste

A handful of basil, leaves picked and chopped

A handful of parsley, chopped

Salt and pepper

method

Rip the flatbread into pieces and soak them in the milk for 10 minutes. Then put the bread into a mixing bowl

Then add the mince and stir in the parsley, mint, oregano, garlic and some seasoning. Mix well, then roll the mixture into walnut-sized balls (about 20g each).
Either on a griddle pan (best) or under a very hot grill, brown the balls quickly – it's all about colouring them and not cooking them through ... cook them for about 5 minutes in total with about three turns on the griddle.
To make the sauce, heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and gently fry the crushed garlic. Tip in the chopped tomatoes and harissa and simmer for 25–30 minutes, until the sauce has reduced. Put in the meatballs and continue to simmer for a further 20 minutes with a lid on until the sauce looks about right. Lastly stir in the herbs and have a final seasoning check
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