Moroccan Meatball Tagine

There is nothing better than being able to give your husband a taste of home. His love language is acts of service and I'm notorious for showing him my love through food. Normally I'm spoiled and when we have Moroccan he cooks because well duh.  Live in Moroccan chef here! And he is a fabulous cook. But now and again I'll whip out a dish or two to show him I appreciate and love him. 

Also what is it they say? A way to a man's heart is through his stomach. So feed those bellies ladies and gents!

Now for this recipe I used my tagine he bought me in Morocco but you could use any pot with a tight fitting lid.

Moroccan meatball tagine

Meatballs:
1 lb. Ground beef the leaner the better
3-4 TBS finely chopped parsley
3-4 TBS finely chopped cilantro
Olive oil

Sauce:
Salt
Pepper
1 TSP Cumin
1 TSP Turmeric
1/2 TSP Paprika
DASH Cayenne pepper
1/2 TSP Onion powder (or 1/2 small onion finely chopped you don't want chunks in the sauce)
1/2 TSP Garlic powder (2 large cloves grated in)
4 TBS Mild paprika pepper paste (optional but if you can find it get add it. Trust me. Its not spicy at all.)
2 CUPS Prego (or tomato sauce we just always seem to have traditional prego around)
2 TBS finely chopped cilantro
2 TBS finely chopped parsley
Water to thin sauce to desired consistency

Topping:
4 Eggs
Cilantro/parsley garnish

Mix your ground beef, cilantro, and parsley together. Form into balls about the size of a nickle across.

Heat your tagine on med with olive oil to almost coat the pan about 1 TBS. Brown your meatballs all over. This only takes a couple min because they are tiny.

Next toss in all the sauce ingredients at once except the extra water. Turn down your burner to 2 or 3 you want a low slow simmer. Place lid on top. After 10 min give it a stir so it doesn't burn on the bottom.

Taste sauce to see if you need to adjust the seasonings. If you're good  here is where you'd add water to the sauce to thin about 1/3 to 1/2 cup. Place lid back on and continue to simmer for 25-30 min. so the flavors really mingle. Remember to stir 2 or 3 times while it simmers and to check to see if you need more water. Depending on your pot you may not need much.

About 5 min before it's done simmering make little pockets in the top and crack an egg inside. Continue to cook with the lid on until egg white is set. Garnish with more cilantro/parsley.

Traditionally you eat this with crusty bread to sop up all the saucy goodness and it works as your utensil too. My kids love it over pasta.

**Handy tip**
If you take a bunch or 2 of cilantro and parsley each chop it up really fine and mix it together you can place it in an airtight container in the freezer for recipes like this. Saves so much time. We always have some about in ours.

Tagine warming on medium heat while I made the meatballs

My hubby was working late so I only put one egg in for my littles to split until he and I ate later

This is the paprika pepper paste I use. It can be found at any Turkish/middle east market

Moroccan Fava Beans (Foul or Broad Beans)

MOROCCAN FAVA BEANS

1 lb shelled fava beans, fresh or frozen/ dried
2 to 3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large tomato, grated
1 small bunch cilantro, chopped (about 4 tablespoons) I keep frozen chopped cilantro and parsley mix in the freezer and use that mostly.
4 to 5 garlic cloves, chopped
1 1/2 teaspoon paprika Or so
1teaspoon ground cumin or so
1/2 to 1 tsp teaspoon salt to taste
water to cover beans
1 thick lemon slice or if out and in a pinch liquid lemon juice in the bottle but add about 1/2 way through cooking

METHOD

 • In a deep skillet warm 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat and add the garlic, tomato, cilantro, paprika, cumin and salt. Stir and leave to cook for 2 minutes.

 • Add the fava beans and the water. Add enough water to cover all the fava beans. Cover with a lid. 

 • Leave until the shell of the fava beans are cooked and their inside is smooth and creamy. Stir occasionally and check the water level you may need to add more until your beans insides are buttery goodness. We used fresh brand this time and it took multiple hours simmering.... if you pressure cook them though it's like 30 min.

 • When cooked, discard the lemon slice and drizzle the fava beans with more olive oil, (one or two tablespoons, as desired). 

 • Serve warm or cold/ room temp. Enjoy as a side or on its own with bread. 

Moroccan Bulgur Salad

For the salad

½ cup bulgur, uncooked
½ cup pitted dates, chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup pistachios
1/2 can mandarin oranges in water drained, optional
2 cups baby spinach leaves

For the dressing

1 can mandarin oranges in water drained 1 tablespoon olive oil
1 1/2  tablespoon apple cider vinegar
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup fresh cilantro leaves, packed
1-2 tablespoons water to adjust consistency

INSTRUCTIONS

Cook the bulgur according to package directions, adding the dates and salt just at the end of the cooking time. This helps soften the dates a bit and gives the bulgur good flavor. Cool the bulgur for 20-30 minutes for a cold salad.In a food processor, combine all the dressing ingredients. Puree until smooth. Toss the cooled bulgur and dates mixture with the other salad ingredients. Drizzle or toss with the dressing. Serve immediately.

My Birthday Dinner Celebration

So I was preparing for this dinner for 2 days. So much cooking to get everything all complete but so so worth it! Check out this spread!

We had sourdough bread, Jben (farmers cheese from scratch!Link here to my recipe earlier), Moroccan 5 salad, salad (carrot, green bean, beet, cucumber and tomato salad, and a tuna/rice salad), I forgot to put them on for the pic but there are also supposed to be a line of halved hard boiled eggs , and the main dish with the white spoon on it is Seffa Medfouna. Seffa Medfouna is chicken with vermicelli domed over with a sauce and some fancy nuts and dried fruit on top with cinnamon and ground fried almonds and powdered sugar. Its a play on sweet and savory. Then for dessert there are coconut almond truffles and we bought a red velvet cake. Oh and Bavarian buttermilk to wash it all down with. There was so much food and it was amazing! For the Seffa Medfouna I followed a YouTube video since my hubby wasn't here to help me (or make me my traditional German chocolate cake...sigh....I missed him on my birthday but he would have been proud of my dinner!) The link is here for her video Seffa Medfouna, Cooking with Alia . I love her channel! While the hubs and I use his moms recipes sometimes it is nice to see someone doing the recipe. For the other salad recipes I will post them below.

Here was my completed Seffa Medfouna

Carrot Salad

1 1/2 lb. or so of carrots

1 1/2 tbs lemon juice

1 1/2 tbs vegetable oil

1 tbs chopped fresh parsley

1 tsp cumin

salt

pepper

 

Peal the carrots and dice them into small little squares. In a medium pot cook the carrots until tender. Strain and in a large bowl add all the rest of ingredients. Salt and pepper to taste. Keep chilled until ready to serve.

 

Green Bean Salad

 

2 cans green beans chopped into 1/2 in pieces

1 small roasted red pepper, seeded and finely chopped or sprinkle some crushed red pepper flakes if making the salad the night before and you are out of the roasted red pepper

2 tbs finely chopped parsley

2 tbs vegetable oil

1 1/2- 2 tbs lemon juice

salt

paprika

black pepper

 

Rinse the beans and chop them accordingly. Add the red pepper, parsley, oil, and lemon juice, salt, pepper, and paprika. Mix and keep chilled until ready to serve.

 

Cold Beet Salad (not the mayo one)

 

2 cans diced beets, drained and rinsed

2 tbs chopped fresh parsley

2 1/2 tbs lemon juice

2 tbs vegetable oil

salt

pepper

 

Mix everything together. Salt and pepper to taste. Chill until ready to serve.

Cucumber Tomato Salad

5 Roma Tomatoes, Diced and Seeded
4 Med cucumbers, Pealed and Diced
1 part oil
2 parts vinegar
Salt
Pepper

Mix all together. Chill until ready to serve.

 

Tuna Rice Salad

 

3 cups cooked white rice

1 can corn nibblets

2/3-1c cubed sharp cheddar cheese

1 can albacore tuna in water Kirkland brand if generic use 2 cans the Kirkland ones are larger

3/4-1c mayo + vinegar for some tang or I like to use Miracle whip and don't need the vinegar then

Salt

Pepper

 

Mix it all together. Add more miracle whip to desired wetness. Chill until ready to serve.

 

 

Almond Coconut Balls

 

2 1/2c medium/course unsweetened shredded coconut + more if needed.

1c fine shredded unsweetened coconut

1 can sweetened condensed milk

15-20 or so dry roasted almonds

 

pour the sweetened condensed milk over the medium unsweetened coconut. If lots of extra milk left over put a bit more in. Let sit for 5-10 min. Roll into little balls and insert an almond inside and re roll into a circle to cover the opening from the almond. Roll the ball into the fine coconut and set aside. continue for the rest of the coconut. Refrigerate for 4 hours.

 

My uncle ate half the pan by himself of these!

 

 

My amazing hubby even though being away didn't forget me. He got me the most beautiful 2 dozens roses, candies, a birthday sign, and chocolates all delivered that afternoon. But first I got a birthday morning phone call at 430am so he could be the first to tell me he loved me and to have a happy birthday along with another surprise when we are back together. It's a while to wait but I can't wait! What an amazing day. Hubby to call and almost all my family for dinner. Only thing that would have made it better was if he was there in person. But I will be making this spread again since he informed me that I am a cruel cruel wife for making it without him haha.