Moroccan Meatball Stew. This is a real feast for the senses. not only incredible flavour, but the heavenly scent of this dish alone, while cooking, is well worth the effort.
Moroccan Meatball Stew.
Originally Published Jan 2013.
Here’s a terrific weekend or weekday slow cooked supper that will fill the entire house with the most amazing fragrance of spices. We enjoyed this meal recently with some homemade flatbreads and a nice big glass of cabernet sauvignon for mom and dad.
I grind my meat ant home and use lamb or beef for this recipe, or even a combination of both.
It really is a glorious combination of flavours from the sweet currents and raisins to the salty olives and with just the right amount of gentle spicy heat. This one is a keeper and will definitely be made again in our kitchen.
Olives are not for everyone, so rest assured you can omit them from this recipe if you like.
This recipe is also ideal for the slow cooker, just add the chickpeas along with the other ingredients as the only modification to the recipe.
Leave the olives until the very end just to warm them or the stew may be too salty. Or, if you don’t care for olives, leave them out altogether.
What a delicious meal!
Moroccan Meatball Stew, a real feat for the senses!
You may want to serve this with some easy 2 basic ingredient flatbreads. I sometimes just make our now famous Yogurt Flatbreads and serve it with or without the couscous.
Yogurt Flatbreads
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Moroccan Meatball Stew
Moroccan Meatball Stew - this is a real feast for the senses; not only incredible flavour, but the heavenly scent of this cooking is worth the effort alone.
Ingredients
For the meatballs
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs
- 1/4 cup milk
- 2 lbs ground lamb, or beef
- 1 tsp dry oregano
- 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 beaten egg
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce
- a little olive oil for frying the meatballs
For braising the meatballs
- 1 diced carrot
- 1 stalk diced celery
- 4 cloves chopped garlic
- 1 diced red onion
- 6 cups diced canned tomatoes
- 3/4 cup currents
- 1/2 cup raisins
- 3 bay leaves
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground cardamom
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 4 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 small red chile minced or 1 tbsp chili paste
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- salt and pepper to season
- 2 cups cooked or canned chickpeas, rinsed
- 1 cup olives, optional
Instructions
To prepare the meatballs
- Soak the bread crumbs in the milk for 10 minutes.
- Add the ground lamb (or beef), the oregano, nutmeg, beaten egg, salt, pepper and Worcestershire sauce.
- Mix well and form into 1 1/2 inch balls. Fry the meatballs in in a olive oil to brown on all sides. Remove meatballs to a covered, oven safe pan.
- To the frying pan add the diced carrot, celery, garlic and red onion. Saute together until the onions soften, then add this mixture to the pan with the meatballs along with all the remaining ingredients EXCEPT the chickpeas and olives.
- Place in a 350 degree oven, covered for about and hour, then add the chickpeas. Return to the oven for an additional hour at 325 degrees F. In the last 10 minutes of cooking time you can add the olives if you are using them.
- Serve over couscous.
Notes
When adapting this recipe to a slow cooker, proceed as normal but use the slow cooker on low to medium setting for several hours, up to 4 should be fine. Add the chick peas (and optional olives) in the last hour or so.
Nutrition Information
Yield
8Serving Size
8 servingsAmount Per Serving Calories 585Saturated Fat 13gCholesterol 104mgSodium 853mgCarbohydrates 51gFiber 9gSugar 12gProtein 27g
Londa
Friday 28th of April 2023
Hi Barry, looking forward to making this! Can you suggest which type of small red chili to use for this recipe? Thanks!
Frank
Thursday 2nd of March 2023
I like to print out my favorite recipes with PHOTO on 8 1/2 x 11 paper to put in 3-ring binders for future reference. I cannot copy and paste or even save to any file your photos. Why is that? I have no problems with any other recipe I print out.
Liz MacFarlane
Friday 15th of April 2022
I would love to try one of these lamb recipes. I remember eating a lot of lamb in Scotland and England and it was delicious. But the few times I have had it here in Canada, it did not taste as good. I found it has a 'gamey' taste. Why is that. Any hints?
Barbara B.
Thursday 7th of October 2021
Barry, how long would you recommend cooking this in a tagine? Any changes you would make to the recipe?
Cathy
Thursday 7th of October 2021
This dish DOES look and sound amazing. I am wondering if you could cube chicken breasts into 2 bite cubes or use chicken tenders - brown them and then proceed with the rest of the recipe??