Morroccan Meatballs

Letsee, we have lots of tomatoes, onions, garlic and parsley in the garden.  Whatever shall we do with them?  Why Moroccan meatballs of course.  This is one of my favorite tagines and its best when made with lots of fresh tomato so I generally only make it when our vines are full.  Generally  made with ground lamb or beef, I had already thawed some ground turkey so despite the fact that I couldn't get the meatballs quite as small as I'd like, it worked out well.

I start by making the meatballs. I finely chop a small sweet onion, add in a heaping hand full of Italian parsley (chopped) and a healthy dose of good paprika and cumin.  I tend to take it easy on the cumin in the meat as I find it can be a little overpowering if you aren't careful. I focus the cumin flavor in the sauce where I can more easily gauge the flavor as it cooks.  Once these are well blended (adding in bread crumbs only if necessary to soak up some moisture), form into small balls and brown in a good amount of olive oil.  Ideally these should be one nice bite or two small bite meatballs.

Once the meatballs are browned set them aside and prepare the sauce.  Saute finely chopped onion and garlic in the oil from the meatballs.  Add in 4-6 roughly chopped skinned and seeded tomatoes, a large hand full of chopped flat leaf parsley and add in good paprika, cumin, salt and pepper to taste.

Once you have a thin sauce consistency, add in the meatballs cover and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.  Taste regularly to check flavors and because it's good.

More garden goodness on the side - tomato, cucumber and red onion in a sweet vinaigrette.

Serve with a good crusty bread, you'll need the crust to hold up as a utensil.  The baker baked baguettes while the sauce was simmering.

B1's Moroccan influence must have rubbed off well on B2.  She eats like a pro!