Moroccan meatball tagine

Fellow blogger www.andandrea.com gave me a clever idea for repurposing chevap skinless sausages: roll them into meatballs! Genius idea, Andrea! So last night I turned some into Moroccan Meatball Tagine. Yum! The Sprogs loved it, Husband loved it, I loved it. Very easy too. (But not preservative-free, Megz, you might need to make your own meatballs from scratch.) The recipe is a variation on a chicken tagine I’ve written about previously. But the Sprogs are always a bit edgy about chook bones, so the meatballs were more kid-friendly.

MOROCCAN MEATBALL TAGINE

INGREDIENTS: 2 trays chevap sausages; 1 tablespoon paprika; 1 tablespoon turmeric; 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger; 3 tablespoons olive oil; 2 large onions, peeled and sliced; 2 large garlic cloves, crushed; 400g can chopped tomatoes; 1/2 tsp cinnamon; 1 cup beef stock; I tablespoon lemon juice; 2 quarters preserved lemon, pulp removed, rinsed and chopped; 100g pitted olives; 1 can chickpeas, drained.

METHOD: Preheat oven to 180C. Heat olive oil in an oven-proof casserole. Add onions and garlic and cook on a low heat until soft. Add paprika, turmeric, cinnamon and ginger. Fry for a minute until fragrant. Add tomatoes with their juice, stock and lemon juice. Halve each chevap and roll into a ball. Place meatballs gently in casserole. Cover casserole and bake 30 minutes. Remove from oven, stir, add chickpeas. Bake 15 minutes. Remove from oven, stir, add olives and preserved lemon. Bake 5 minutes. Serve with cous cous.