This ultra-flavorful dish is based upon a version of North African meatballs served in France, where they are called boulettes. Both the sauce and the meatballs are loaded with spices. SO fragrant and delicious.
This recipe was adapted from the New York Times, contributed by David Tanis. I used ground turkey instead of beef or lamb and increased the garlic. I also forgot to include the raisins in my couscous! We ate it with steamed spinach on the side but it would also be incredible served with roasted tomatoes or roasted cauliflower- or all of the above. Next time!
I’m sharing this dish (belatedly, again) at Angie’s Fiesta Friday #111 this week, co-hosted by Naina @ Spice in the City and Julianna @ Foodie on Board. Enjoy!
Yield: Serves 6
For the Saffron Tomato Sauce:
- 2 T olive oil
- 1 and 1/2 cups finely diced onion
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 T tomato paste
- 1 inch piece cinnamon stick
- large pinch saffron, crumbled
- coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 3 cups chicken stock, vegetable broth, or water
For the Meatballs:
- 1 1/2 cups cubed day-old firm white bread
- 1 cup milk (I used 1 percent)
- 1 1/4 pound ground beef, lamb, or turkey
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 1 tsp coarse salt
- ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- ⅛ tsp grated nutmeg
- 1 tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp turmeric
- 2 tsp smoked paprika
- ¼ tsp cayenne
- ¼ tsp ground cloves
- ¼ tsp ground coriander
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- 3 T chopped parsley
- 3 T chopped cilantro
- 3 T finely chopped scallion
- all-purpose flour, for dusting
- olive oil or vegetable oil
For the Couscous:
- 1 cup giant couscous, m’hamsa, or medium couscous
- 2 T unsalted butter
- ½ cup golden raisins, soaked in hot water to soften, then drained
- coarse salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
Make the Sauce:
- Heat oil over medium-high heat in a wide, heavy bottomed saucepan. Add onion and cook without browning until softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add garlic, tomato paste, cinnamon and saffron, and stir well to incorporate.
- Season generously with salt and pepper, and allow to sizzle for 1 minute more.
- Add stock and simmer gently for 5 minutes. May be made several hours in advance, up to a day.
Make the Meatballs:
- Put bread cubes and milk in a small bowl. Leave bread to soak until softened, about 5 minutes, then squeeze dry.
- In a mixing bowl, put squeezed-out bread, ground meat and egg.
- Add salt, pepper, garlic, nutmeg, ginger, turmeric, paprika, cayenne, cloves, coriander and cumin. Mix well with hands to distribute seasoning.
- Add 2 tablespoons each of parsley, cilantro and scallion, and knead for a minute. May be prepared several hours in advance, up to a day.
- With hands or a cookie scoop, roll mixture into small round balls about the size of a quarter.
- Dust meatballs lightly with flour. (I gently rolled the meatballs in the flour as I lifted them up to place in the pan.)
- Heat a few tablespoons of oil, or a quarter-inch depth, over medium-high heat and fry meatballs until barely browned, about 2 minutes per side. Drain and blot on paper towel.
- Simmer meatballs in saffron-tomato sauce, covered, over medium heat for about 20 minutes, until tender.
Meanwhile, Make the Couscous:
- Cook according to package directions, fluff gently and stir in butter and raisins.
- Season with salt and cinnamon, and toss well.
To Serve:
- Garnish meatballs with remaining parsley, cilantro and scallion. Serve with couscous and roasted tomatoes, roasted cauliflower, or steamed greens, as desired.
One Year Ago:
Two Years Ago:
Three Years Ago:
This recipe sounds lovely. I can just imagine that the meatballs screams flavour, just due to the amount of spices that are included. Thanks for sharing.
Thank you so much! The ground turkey was an easy substitute for beef because there were so many wonderful spices in the dish. I hope you try it!
Delicious looking 🙂
Thank you so much! It was super flavorful.
I love meatballs and am always looking for new recipes! Love that this one has spices both in the meatballs and the gravy! And it looks so inviting! Thank you for sharing at Fiesta Friday!!
Thank you so much & thanks for co-hosting FF this week, Naina. I need to go & peruse all of the other posts! 🙂
What a gorgeous bowl of yumm! I love all the spices in the meatballs. 🙂
Me too! Spice LOADED! Thanks. 🙂
Gorgeous meal Josette, I love the spicy meatballs in that yummy sauce and the cous cous. Really delicious.
It really was delicious. Thank you so much, Suzanne. 🙂
LOL I just made these tonight, before I saw your post!!! I thought the sauce was too thin and mine was redder than yours. I used lamb and thought the meatballs had great texture and flavor. (I baked them) I think the flavors will develop overnight even more.
Crazy!! Love it! I’m sure that I cooked down the sauce until it was thicker- more than the suggested 20 minutes. I gobbled up the leftovers. I think waiting overnight definitely develops more flavor- but overall, I seem to enjoy dishes even more the next day. I think it’s because the cooking and cleaning are behind me! 🙂
What a lovely dish, Josette! It sounds so flavorful. So delicious! 🙂
SO flavorful. We really enjoyed it. Thank you so much, Jhuls.
Oh such beautiful North African flavors, these look so yummy!
Thank you, Loretta. I need to go to Morocco someday! 🙂
North African meatballs by way of France and the NYT. What a pedigree! 🙂
True! Love it! 🙂
I´m Swedish and we kind of love our meatballs here but this looks utterly delicious with all those flavors!
Thank you so much! Swedish meatballs are so delicious too, of course! 🙂
Honestly this is one the best recipes I’ve ever used. I cook all the time and I use a LOT of ground turkey. I can never make any other meatballs again for the rest of my life.
Thank you so much!! That is quite possibly the most amazing comment EVER. We loved them too!:)
I’ve shared it with so many people already! I’m making it again tonight 🙂
Yay! You made my day. 🙂