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North African Meatballs with Couscous

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These meatballs may be small, but they pack quite the flavour punch due to the cloves and nutmeg. Served with couscous and tzatziki sauce, it tastes very light and refreshing. You can also wrap the meatballs in a pita and serve with lettuce and vegetables.

Approx:
Serving Size: Makes about 30-34 small meatballs.
Duration: About 1.5 hours

Ingredients

Meatballs

  • 1 lb lean ground beef
  • 1/3 cup panko crumbs
  • 1-2 large eggs, beaten*
  • 4 garlic cloves, minced 
  • 3 tbsp chopped parsley 
  • 3 tbsp chopped cilantro
  • 3 tbsp chopped scallion
  • 1 tsp salt 
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 1/8 tsp ground nutmeg 
  • 1 tsp ground ginger 
  • 1 tsp turmeric
  • 2 tsp paprika
  • 1/4 tsp cayenne 
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves (can do a bit more, and can crush roughly whole cloves)
  • 1/4 tsp ground coriander 
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin

Couscous

  • 1.5 cup couscous
  • 1.5 cup water (or chicken stock)
  • 1 tbsp salted butter

Other Toppings (Optional)

Directions

Meatballs

  1. In a small bowl, mix the dry spices (i.e. salt, pepper, garlic, nutmeg, ginger, turmeric, paprika, cayenne, cloves, coriander and cumin)
  2. In a mixing bowl, add egg, scallions, parsley, cilantro, minced garlic, and spice mix from Step 1. Mix well.
  3. Add panko and beef to the egg spice mixture. Mix well.
  4. Refrigerate mixture for about 15 minutes to harden (optional).
  5. Coat a non-stick pan with olive oil. Do not heat yet.
  6. Roll the meat mixture into small balls about the size of a quarter and place directly onto the pan. Using the recipe above, you may need to do two batches for a medium sized pan.
  7. Once the pan is covered, place on stove top with a lid and cook under low-medium heat for 7-10 minutes until browned and crisp. You may need to add additional olive oil.
Couscous
  1. Pour water into a pot and add the butter. Heat to boil.
  2. Once boiling, add the couscous and turn off the heat. Remove from stove.
  3. Place a lid over the pot and let it sit for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally to fluff it up.
  4. Serve warm.
*If making half the recipe, discard about 1 tsp of egg white from the cracked large egg. If making full recipe, I personally think about 1.5 eggs will work best.

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