This is Yotam Ottolenghi's recipe for a surprisingly light dish that has a delicate and (to me) unusual flavour. I think it's a recipe from Jerusalem. It makes about 20 meatballs, enough for four people, which you can serve with rice.
Ingredients
- 400g of lean minced beef
- 1 medium onion
- 120g of breadcrumbs (I bought ready-made crumbs - I've been stung by trying to make my own in the past)
- 20g of flat-leaf parsley, plus extra to garnish
- 1 egg
- ½ a teaspoon of ground allspice
- 2 tablespoonfuls of olive oil
- 1 teaspoon of salt
- A generous grind or three of black pepper
- 1 small celeriac
- 3 cloves of garlic
- ½ a teaspoon of ground turmeric
- ½ a teaspoon of ground cumin
- ½ a teaspoon of ground cinnamon
- 1½ teaspoonfuls of fennel seeds
- ¾ a teaspoon of ground smoked paprika
- 500ml chicken stock
- 3½ tablespoonsful of lemon juice
- 60g of Greek yoghurt
Method
- Peel and finely chop the onion.
- Finely chop the parsley.
- Crack the egg into a little bowl and beat it with a fork for a bit.
- Put the beef, onion, breadcrumbs, parsley, egg, allspice, half a teaspoon of salt and some pepper into a large bowl.
- Mix together with your hands and form the mixture into little meatballs.
- OK, so far so good. Now chop the celeriac into little thin batons (5cm by 1.5cm says the recipe).
- Crush the fennel seeds slightly.
- Peel and crush the garlic.
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan (that has a lid).
- Sear the meatballs all over for about five minutes.
- Remove the meatballs from the pan.
- Put the celeriac, garlic and all the remaining spices into the pan. Cook on a high heat, stirring, for two minutes.
- Put the meatballs back in the pan, along with the stock, lemon juice, the other half-teaspoon of salt and some pepper to taste.
- Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and put the lid on.
- Simmer for 30 minutes.
- Take off the lid and let it bubble away for another 10 minutes, until the sauce is quite thick.
- Remove the pan from the heat, and let it settle for a few minutes. Taste it to see if you want to adjust the seasoning, then serve with a dollop for yoghurt and a sprinkling of chopped parsley.
