Morrocan Lemon Meatball Tagine

Since receiving a tagine as a wedding present I have really gotten into the Moroccan cuisine. So much so that cumin, which is widely used in Moroccan cooking, has become one of my favorite herbs, and so features as part of the name of my blog. This dish is very plain without the preserved lemons, so maybe a good one to try if you're new to Moroccan. But I love the preserved lemons and would not have it without them. Preserved lemons are very easy to make, and a recipe for them can be found in an earlier post of this blog.

Ingredients (Meatballs)

• 1/2 onion finely chopped
• 2 tbs chopped flat leaf parsley
• 2 slices white bread, crust removed, or 1 cup bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• 500g minced beef/lamb
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp paprika (sweet or smoked) powder
• 1 tsp crushed garlic
• freshly ground black pepper
• salt

Ingredients (Herb and Lemon Sauce)

• 1 tbs oil
• 1/2 onion coarsely chopped
• 1 tsp paprika powder
• 1 tsp ground turmeric
• 1/2 tsp ground cumin
• 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
• 375 ml chicken/vegetable stock
• 2 tbs chopped coriander
• 2 tbs chopped parsley
• 2 tbs lemon juice
• 2 preserved lemons (or less - to taste)

Method

1. Finely chop the onion and parsley. Process bread slices and egg in a food processor, if using bread crumbs add onion, parsley, breadcrumbs, egg, meat, garlic, salt and pepper, cumin and paprika to a large bowl. Knead to achieve a paste like consistency. Roll into walnut sized balls, put balls on a tray in the fridge until needed.
2. Roughly chop onion, gently fry over low heat. Add paprika, turmeric, cumin and cayenne pepper and cook stirring for 1 min or until fragrant. Add the stock and coriander and bring to the boil.
3. If using a tagine add meatballs to tagine and add boiling sauce over tagine. Otherwise add meatballs to sauce and cover, cook over low heat for at least 45 min. Add most of the parsley and the lemon juice. Remove preserved lemon from jars, discarding flesh and pith, rinse really well under water (as these are very salty), cut into strips and add to saucepan and cook for about 5 min. Serve with cous cous and/or crusty bread and sprinkle with remaining parsley.