Meatballs With Cranberries

These little gems lend themselves to filling flat breads with hummus, salad and yogurt or skewered with fancy cocktail sticks as a party nibble.

Younger children love them too as the cranberries and glaze add a lovely sweetness that most children adore and as a mum I love the sneaky vegetables!

Makes 32, serves 6.

Ingredients

500g minced beef

180g carrots, peeled and grated

300g courgette/zucchini, grated

4 garlic cloves, peeled and crushed

1 egg, beaten

4 teaspoons ground cumin

3 teaspoons ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon ground all spice

1/2 teaspoon chilli powder

1 teaspoon sumac

100g dried cranberries

salt to taste

2 tablespoons pomegranate molasses

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

4 tablespoons tomato ketchup

Method

Combine all of the ingredients except the molasses, vinegar and ketchup.

Using your hands mix the ingredients very well.

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Centigrade, line a baking tray with baking parchment.

Heat a large frying pan over medium to high heat, add a little oil.

Form the meat mix into small balls,  I get around 32 balls.

Add one third of the balls to the hot pan and cook, just to seal and colour a little. Remove the meatballs and place them on the prepared baking tray.

Continue and seal the remaining balls. Place them all on the baking tray.

In a small bowl, combine the molasses, vinegar and ketchup. Spoon this over the meatballs, making sure each one has a coating of glaze.

Slide the tray into the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature.

Middle Eastern Meatballs With Yogurt And Tahini Sauce

Humble mince, I can remember joking as a child that my Mum had one hundred and one ways of cooking mince but this certainly wasn’t one of them!

Loved by the boys the meatballs are sweetened with dates and the sauce tastes very mild. I serve these with Lebanese flatbreads and salad, as we all know, food tastes so much better when you eat with your hands!

I use fresh gluten free bread for my breadcrumbs and these meatballs freeze well too. Just brown them, place in freezer proof tray, and pour over the sauce. Cool and then freeze.

Makes 40 meatballs.

Ingredients

1 onion, peeled and quartered

3 garlic cloves

70g dates

80g breadcrumbs, gluten free if needed

100g pistachio kernals

5 teaspoons ground cumin

6 teaspoons ground coriander

1/2 teaspoon chilli powder

50g fresh coriander, leaves and stalks

salt and pepper

1 egg, beaten

600g ground beef/ minced beef

SAUCE

350g Greek yogurt

90g tahini

1 garlic clove, crushed

zest of 1 lemon

150mls water

salt and pepper

Method

Using a processor, process the onion and garlic.

Add the dates, breadcrumbs, pistachios, cumin, ground coriander, fresh coriander, salt and pepper.

Pulse until the nuts are finely chopped.

Tip this paste into a bowl, add the egg and minced beef and using your hands mix really well.

At this stage you can leave the meat in the fridge for 4-12 hours to develop its flavour or carry on as below.

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees centigrade.

Heat a large non stick frying pan over a medium to high heat. You can add a little oil if you want but I tend to just use the dry pan.

Form the meat into small meatballs, you should get around 40.

Cook the meatballs in batches, just to seal the outside. Place the sealed meatballs in an oven proof dish and continue to cook the remaining balls.

Once all of the meatballs are sealed, spread them evenly in your oven proof dish.

In a jug, combine the yogurt, tahini, garlic, lemon zest, water and salt and pepper.

Pour the sauce over and around the meatballs.

Place the meatballs in the preheated oven and bake for 20-25 minutes until they are just cooked through and the sauce has thickened.

Meatballs With Sour Cherries And Herbs

A bit of an odd combination to some people but it does work very well giving these meatballs a hint of sweetness in amongst the fabulous herb flavours.

I quite often make the meat mix in the morning and come back and make the meatballs for our evening meal, it sits quite happily in the fridge.

Makes 36 meatballs, serves 6-8 depending on sides. We have these as a mezze meal and I serve them with some yogurt flavoured with garlic and mint.

Ingredients

1kg minced beef

1/2 red onion, very finely diced

4 garlic cloves, crushed

4 teaspoons ground cumin

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

15g chopped fresh dill

15g chopped fresh parsley

salt and pepper

150g drained sour cherries

Method

Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Centigrade.

Line two baking sheets with baking parchment.

Combine all of the ingredients in a large bowl. the cherries will get all mushed up, don’t worry!

Form into balls and lay on the baking sheets, spread a little apart.

Bake in the oven for 20-25 minutes until browned and cooked through.

Sloppy Joes with Spicy Salami and Whole Grain Mustard

To be honest, I have never eaten a Sloppy Joe so this is just my take on it!

This is one of my go to recipes on particularly busy days and evenings, one that allows you to pop in and out and still get something on the table at a reasonable hour.

The boys love these, partly as they are eaten with their hands but there is nothing not to love! I think of them as a deconstructed burger, with all the ketchup and mustard thrown in.

We top them with a little grated cheese, one boy likes an egg on top and another some sliced beetroot, that’s an Australian habit with burgers!

Served with some coleslaw and green salad and a roll for the family, a gluten free wrap for me.

Serves 4-6 .

Ingredients

120g spicy salami, cut into small chunks

1 onion, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

500g minced beef

250mls water

125mls tomato ketchup

50mls Worcestershire sauce, gluten free

3 tablespoons whole grain mustard

2 teaspoons liquid smoke

salt and pepper

Method

Heat a large frying pan over medium heat.

Add the salami, once the fat is lining the pan, add the onion and cook until very soft, add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.

Turn the heat up to high and pop the beef into the pan, breaking it up as you stir, cook the meat until all of the juice has evaporated.

Pour in the water, ketchup, Worcestershire sauce, mustard, liquid smoke, salt and pepper.

Over high heat stirring occasionally,cook this mixture until all of the liquid has evaporated and you are left with sticky sloppy Joe.

Check for seasoning, add a really good grinding of pepper and maybe a little more salt, this varies on quantity depending on the flavour of your salami.

 

Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs with Sour Cream Sauce

This is one of the boys favourite meatball recipes, when they were little they loved the fact that there was hidden cheese in the meatballs!

The sauce is lovely and creamy and works well with enchiladas too.

Makes 32 meatballs.

Ingredients

Meatballs

1kg minced beef

32 fresh mini bocconcini, or small pieces of mozzarella

1/2 large onion, chopped finely

1 egg, beaten

3 tablespoons freshly chopped oregano

2 teaspoons chipotle chilli powder

2 teaspoons salt

Freshly ground pepper

Sauce

50g butter

1/2 large onion, chopped finely

2  jalapeño chilli, deseeded and diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

70g gluten free plain flour

650mls chicken stock

500mls sour cream

1 teaspoon cayenne powder

1 tablespoon ground coriander

salt and pepper

coriander leaves to garnish

Method

To make the meatballs, combine the mince, onion, egg, oregano, chilli, salt and pepper in a large bowl.

Drain the bocconcino and pat dry.

Take a little meat and squash it around the cheese to make a ball, repeat with the remaining cheese to form 32 balls.

Set aside.

In a large pan, melt the butter, add the onion, garlic and chilli.

Cook over a medium heat until the onion is fully cooked.

Stir in the flour and cook for 1minute.

Add the chicken stick and whisk to combine.

Bring the stock up to the boil, stirring all of the time.

Once it has thickened, remove from the heat and add the sour cream, cayenne pepper and coriander, combine well and set aside.

Heat an oven proof frying pan over high heat, add the meat balls and cook quickly, just enough to brown the outsides.

Lift the meatballs out of the pan, pour the sauce into the meatball pan and pop the meatballs on top of the sauce.

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Centigrade.

Bake the meatballs and sauce for 30-40mins.