Aromatic lamb meatball and giant couscous stew
Serves: 4
Prep time: 30 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Maja Smend
Aromatic lamb meatball and giant couscous stew
A Middle Eastern-inspired spin on meatballs and pasta. Leftovers taste even better the next day
Serves: 4
Prep time: 30 minsTotal time: 
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Nutritional information (serving)
Calories
574Kcal
Fat
30gr
Saturates
13gr
Carbs
42gr
Sugars
10gr
Fibre
4gr
Protein
34gr
Salt
1.3gr
Tamsin Burnett-Hall
Tamsin learned the tricks of the trade from cookery legend Delia Smith. A trusted recipe writer for the magazine for over 25 years, she is now our Senior Food Producer, overseeing testing and editing to ensure that every recipe tastes great, is straightforward to follow and works without fail. In her home kitchen, Tamsin creates fuss-free flavour-packed food for friends and family, with baking being her ultimate form of comfort cooking
See more of Tamsin Burnett-Hall’s recipes
Tamsin Burnett-Hall
Tamsin learned the tricks of the trade from cookery legend Delia Smith. A trusted recipe writer for the magazine for over 25 years, she is now our Senior Food Producer, overseeing testing and editing to ensure that every recipe tastes great, is straightforward to follow and works without fail. In her home kitchen, Tamsin creates fuss-free flavour-packed food for friends and family, with baking being her ultimate form of comfort cooking
See more of Tamsin Burnett-Hall’s recipes
Ingredients
- 1⁄2 x 30g pack mint, leaves picked
- 1⁄2 x 30g pack flat-leaf parsley, leaves picked
- 1 onion, grated
- zest and juice of 1⁄2 lemon, plus extra if needed
- 35g dried breadcrumbs
- 50g dried apricots, finely chopped
- 1 tbsp ground cumin
- 1 tbsp ground coriander
- 1 x 500g pack lamb mince (20% fat)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 750ml vegetable or lamb stock (made using 1 stock cube)
- 1 tsp paprika
- 1⁄2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tbsp tomato purée
- 125g giant couscous
- 150g young spinach
Step by step
- For the meatballs, finely chop a third each of the mint and parsley and add to a bowl with the onion, lemon zest, breadcrumbs, apricots, 1⁄2 tablespoon each of ground cumin and coriander, seasoning and the lamb mince. Mix together until very well combined. Then, using wet hands, shape into about 48 bite-size meatballs.
- Heat half the oil in a non-stick sauté pan or casserole and brown half of the meatballs for about 4 minutes, shaking the pan occasionally to brown them all over. Remove to a dish and deglaze the pan with a little stock, scraping any caramelised bits from the bottom of the pan. Pour this over the browned meatballs. Brown the rest of the meatballs in the remaining oil. When ready, tip the first batch of meatballs back into the pan and add the remaining cumin and coriander as well as the paprika, cinnamon and tomato pureé. Stir to coat.
- Pour in the rest of the stock and bring to the boil, then add the giant couscous, some seasoning and cover the pan. Simmer for 10 minutes.
- Add the spinach, re-cover and cook for a further 5 minutes. Chop the rest of the mint and parsley and add, along with the lemon juice, to taste. Ladle into shallow bowls to serve.
