Sunday Supper: Smoky, Spicy Meatballs Are The Ultimate Comfort Food

When you think of meatballs, spicy tomato sauce and spaghetti usually come to mind but this delicious alternative from Middle-Eastern culinary maestro Yotam Ottolenghi packs all the flavour punch of traditional meatballs but is more smoky and fragrant.

This one dish delight can be whipped up in just over an hour and is the perfect comforting dish for a cold winter’s night.

Ingredients:

4 medium aubergines

2 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

Salt and black pepper

350g minced beef

1 small egg, beaten

1 small onion, peeled and finely chopped

1 medium potato, peeled and coarsely grated

30g chopped parsley, plus extra to garnish

3 tbsp sunflower oil

100ml chicken stock

20g flaked almonds or pine nuts, toasted

Method:

First take the whole aubergines and char the skins over a gas ring flame or place in the oven until the skin has blackened and can easily be removed.

Once cool enough to handle, remove the skin and pull the flesh into thin strips and drain in a colander for 30 minutes. Once drained add the garlic and half a teaspoon each of salt and pepper.

Next place the meat in a bowl with the egg, onion, potato, parsley, teaspoon of salt and teaspoon of pepper and kneed together to form small golf sized balls.

After you have prepared the aubergine and meatballs, heat the oven to 160C/320F/gas mark 2½.

In a pan heat the sunflower oil and brown the meatballs in batches. Then transfer to a plate keeping the oil in the pan.

Then in an oven proof dish, layer the aubergine covering the base of the dish, pour the oil from the pan on top and then place the meatballs over the aubergines so that they fit snugly.

Add the 100ml of chicken stock and 100ml of water cover with tin foil and bake for an hour, taking off the foil for the last 15 minutes.

Once out of the oven, allow the meatballs to cool before adding the chopped parsley and flaked almonds.

Serve with bulgar wheat or crusty white bread for a moreish treat!

For more delicious recipes like this visit ottolenghi.co.uk or put Yotam Ottolenghi’s amazing new cookbook Jerusalem at the top of your Christmas wish list.

Image courtesy of Colin Campbell