Meatballs in tomato sauce

Adapted from a Moroccan Kefta recipe, I made these meatballs and tomato sauce. It turned out so well I thought I’d share even though I wasn’t able to take pictures of the set up process. It’s really easy, but it’s nice to have a picture of the ingredients before hand along with the final product. Next time I’ll take more pictures.

I used ground turkey meat, but traditionally it’s made with lamb or beef (or a combination of the two). I’m sure any kind of ground meat would be suitable as the spices give it a lot of it’s flavor.

Duration. Prep time: ~15 min. Cook time: ~45 min. You are eating in 1 hour.

Ingredients:

Tomato Sauce

  • 2 tablespoons olive oil or butter
  • 2 cloves minced garlic
  • 28-ounces of whole or diced tomatoes (BPA-free) in their juice
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper (powdered) or cayenne (more if you like it spicy)
  • 1/4 cup finely chopped cilantro
  • 1/4 cup water

Meatballs

  • 1 pound ground meat
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped onion
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon paprika
  • 1 teaspoon ground cumin
  • 1/4 teaspoon red pepper (powdered) or cayenne
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped cilantro

Start with the tomato sauce. Heat the oil/butter in a low wide pot with a lid. Saute the garlic for a couple minutes and then add all the spices. Stir the spices and then add the tomatoes along with about a 1/4 cup of water. Mix and cover the tomato sauce, allowing it to simmer for about 15 minutes while you make the meatballs.

In a large bowl, mix all of your spices into the ground meat. With your hands, make small meatballs, about an inch across (~16 meatballs). Gently place the meatballs into the tomato sauce and continue simmering for 25-30 minutes allowing the meat to cook and the spices to meld.

Traditionally, eggs are added at the end. Crack and place the eggs into the sauce, leaving them on top to steam cook for roughly 7 minutes or until the whites are cooked but the yolks are still runny.

I was hungry when I made this, so I made a pot of rice as well and served it over rice in a bowl. Low carb or grain free is the standard way to go, just eating the meatballs, sauce and eggs.