Spicy Meatballs With Chickpeas Recipes

SPICY MEATBALLS

Steps:

• In a wide, heavy saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute.
• Add the spices and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add the chopped tomatoes. Bring to a boil, then lower the heat to medium-low and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes, while you're preparing the meatballs.
• In a medium bowl, use your hands to gently mix the meat and the spices. Divide the mixture into 24 equal portions (each weighs about 20 grams) and shape them into small, 1-inch meatballs.
• Add the meatballs to the sauce. Turn the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil, then lower the heat back to medium-low, cover, and simmer until the meatballs are cooked through, about 30 minutes. Sprinkle the dish with cilantro and serve.

CHICKPEA VEGETARIAN MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease a baking sheet with cooking spray.
• Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and garlic; cook and stir until tender, about 5 minutes.
• Pulse chickpeas in a food processor until finely ground. Add onion and garlic, bread crumbs, egg, parsley, seasoning blend, salt, and black pepper; process until mixture holds together like a dough.
• Scoop out 2 tablespoons of the mixture and roll into a ball; set on the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining mixture.
• Bake in the preheated oven until bottom is golden brown, about 15 minutes. Turn each meatball over and continue baking until golden brown on top, about 10 minutes more.

CRISPY LAMB MEATBALLS WITH CHICKPEAS AND EGGPLANT

Steps:

• Combine lamb, fennel seeds, garlic and 1 teaspoon red-pepper flakes in a medium bowl. Season with 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt, and black pepper to taste, and mix until everything is well combined and the spices are evenly distributed.
• Using your hands, roll lamb mixture into balls about 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter, placing them on a parchment-lined baking sheet or plate. You should have about 12 meatballs.
• Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add meatballs - work in batches if your skillet can't comfortably fit them all without crowding - and cook, gently rotating them occasionally so they more or less brown on all sides while keeping a vaguely round shape, 8 to 10 minutes. (Do not stress about this part; they will be delicious no matter what shape they are.) After they are evenly browned and cooked through, transfer them to a plate, leaving the fat and any browned bits behind.
• Add 4 tablespoons oil to the skillet and, working in batches, if needed, add eggplant slices in an even layer, seasoning with salt and pepper. Cook the slices, flipping them once, until they are browned on both sides, about 6 to 8 minutes. Add more oil as needed. After eggplant slices are cooked and browned, transfer them to the plate with the meatballs.
• Add remaining 3 tablespoons oil to the skillet, along with chickpeas. Season with salt and pepper, and cook, shaking the skillet and stirring occasionally, until chickpeas are nicely browned, 3 to 5 minutes. (They won't exactly crisp; you're just looking to take the edge off and get them nicely seasoned.)
• Season yogurt with salt and pepper and smear onto the bottom of a large plate or serving platter. Top with meatballs, eggplant and chickpeas. Scatter with greens and cilantro, and then squeeze lemon halves over everything before serving.

SPICY MEATBALL TAGINE WITH BULGUR & CHICKPEAS

Steps:

• Put the quartered onion in the food processor and process to finely chop it. Add the minced beef, 1 tbsp tomato purée, the garlic, egg and chilli powder and blitz to make a smoothish paste. Divide the mixture into 26 even-sized pieces and roll into balls.
• Heat the oil in a large frying pan and cook the meatballs for about 5-10 mins to lightly brown them. Tip from the pan onto a plate.
• Now add the sliced onion and carrots to the pan and stir fry briefly in the pan juices to soften them a little. Add the spices and pour in the tomatoes with 1 ½ cans of water then stir in the chopped lemon zest, remaining tomato purée, olives and bouillon powder. Return the meatballs to the pan then cover and cook for 15 mins until the carrots are just tender. Stir in the coriander.
• While the tagine is cooking, tip the bulgur into a pan with the chickpeas and water from the can. Add 2 cans of water, the bouillon and coriander. Cover and cook for 10 mins until the bulgur is tender and the liquid had been absorbed. If you're doing the Healthy Diet Plan (serving two people), serve half with half of the tagine and chill the remainder for another night if you like.