Meatball Shakshuka

Hi, this recipe is from the Tesco January 2022 magazine, page 29, or find online here.

This recipe was really fun to make as I have only ever made one Shakshuka before and was excited to make another. Unfortunately, the eggs cooked faster than the meatballs so they weren't nice and runny like they were supposed to be. Next time, I will cook the meatballs for a bit on their own first and then just add the eggs for a few minutes at the end. 

You can serve this with pretty much whatever carbohydrate you want to. I did pitta bread because a flatbread is the more traditional item to serve with a Shakshuka. But, rice, couscous, toast or pasta would be fine too. 

If you wanted to increase quantities and freeze half for another time, you could double the tomatoes and veg sauce recipe and for the meat balls add in a tin of pulses and some grated veg e.g. courgette or carrot, to bulk out the mixture more and then, once cooked, freeze your half meat, half veggie meatballs. You may need to add an egg or extra oil for binding the mincemeat if you do this though.

Lastly, I served with spinach (not pictured) and without the feta out of personal preference. So, feel free to add the cheese back in if you like it.

Enjoy!

Hazel 

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Dietary Info:

-Breakfast

-Main Meal

-Contains Dairy

{Serve without the Greek-style salad cheese or use a dairy-free alternative like Violife.}

-No Nuts

-Gluten Free

-Unsuitable for Vegetarians

{Either use 2 x 400g tins of pulses like chickpeas, lentils, black-eyed beans or butter beans and just swirl into the sauce. Or, use 500g of a vegetarian alternative to mince meat.}

-Unsuitable for Vegans

{See 'unsuitable for vegetarians' and 'contains dairy' sections.}

Serves: 6

Takes: 45mins

Freeze without eggs

Ingredients:

-1/2tbsp olive oil {I used extra virgin olive oil. Any neutral cooking oil will be fine: sunflower, vegetable etc...}

-1 onion, finely chopped {I used a brown onion for this, but red would also be fine.}

-500g pack mixed-colour peppers, finely sliced {This is about 3 peppers. I had one red, one orange and one yellow. Green is also fine, but it is less sweet than the other colours, so you may want one green and two other coloured peppers, not all green.}

-4 garlic cloves, crushed​

-3tsp ground cumin

-1tbsp smoked paprika

-2tbsp tomato purée​

-2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes

-500g pack 20% fat beef mince {I  used 15% fat beef mince, it was fine but make sure it's no less than this as you need the fat to help the meatballs stick together.}

-10g fresh parsley, finely chopped {I used about 1tbsp dried basil, any herb will be fine here.}

-1/2 lemon, zested

-6 medium eggs

-120g Greek-style salad cheese, crumbled {I didn't serve with cheese as I don't like it.} 

-crusty bread, to serve (optional) {I served with wholemeal pitta breads.}

Method:

1: Heat the oil in a large, deep, lidded frying pan {I used a wok.} over a medium-high heat. Fry the onion and peppers {With some salt and pepper.} for 8-10 mins until soft, then add half the garlic, the spices and tomato purée and cook for another 1 min. Tip in the tomatoes and a can’s worth of water; season well and simmer, covered, for 15 mins. {Stirring occasionally to make sure it doesn't stick. I moved mine to a smaller hob ring when simmering because I was using my most powerful one and was concerned that I would boil away all the liquid.}

2: Meanwhile, mix the mince, remaining garlic, half the parsley and the lemon zest in a bowl. Season well and shape into 16 balls. When the sauce has simmered for 15 mins, stir in the meatballs, then crack in the eggs and cook for another 10 mins with the lid on. {I would do the meatballs for 5-10mins alone to ensure they're cooked properly, then put the eggs in. This is because the eggs are quick to cook and they should remain runny, like poached eggs. The meatballs will be brown all the way through and piping hot in the centre when cooked.} Stir in the remaining parsley, then scatter over the cheese. Serve with crusty bread, if you like.

While you're here...

I have a Pinterest for all my recipes, where you can save them to boards for the future and categorise them into different types of recipe e.g Sunday Dinners, picnic ideas etc. My account is @hazellikestocook, or find the link below. Also, I have a whole blog post explaining this in more detail here and https://hazelscookingandbakingblog.blogspot.com/2021/02/pinterest.html. 

https://pin.it/5xDvARk - my profile

This recipe:

https://pin.it/3XPJv4Z