Harissa Lamb Flatballs in Flatbread with Hummus

Well, that title describes the basics of it, anyway!

For those of you who are wondering what the heck a "flatball" might be, it is basically a flat meatball, a burger shape, a small circular "cake" shape.  Now I have an unreasonable hatred of the word "patty" ..... arrrgh, I hates it, hates it I tells ya!  So I won't be using that one, but that's basically what a flatball is.

So, having explained that, let's talk about the dish.

In the past, I have made all sorts of different variations of this dish of which the Harissa Lamb in Flatbreads with Tzatziki and the Kibbeh Meatballs in Pitta Bread are great examples.  However, there is a certain clumsiness involved in trying to eat either a flatbread or a pitta bread that is stuffed with small ball shaped items that are constantly trying to escape.  More often than not, with me, they do escape - right down my cleavage.  Which is a neat trough for them to land in, but can be embarrassing when it comes to retrieval - and boy, that Harissa really does leave a stain!
 

Flatballs .... see?  :)

This is why, when I was thinking about doing the Harissa paste/Lamb mince thing again, I decided to go with the flatball option, instead of a meatball shape.  The good news is, that it works and works beautifully.  Each flatball sits nicely and behaves itself well as you munch your way through.  There is inevitably the occasional bid for freedom, but it is a whole lot easier to keep under control than having three or four wilful meatballs in your sandwich.

Basic hummus - recipe from "Jerusalem"

The day before making the flatballs, I had made some hummus.  Now I remember making hummus previously and although it wasn't a drama to make - just chuck everything in the food processor and blitz - it wasn't exactly wonderful hummus.  Then I received Yotam Ottolenghi & Sami Tamimi's cook book "Jerusalem" for Christmas.  (You are going to get SO fed up hearing about it!).  In this they have a recipe for basic hummus, but using soaked dried chick peas - so hummus very much from scratch.  They also have a novel way of preparing the chick peas that leaves them extremely tender - more so than tinned - and beautifully flavoured.  I won't go into the recipe here as the next time I make some I want to photograph the process and blog it for you.  However, if you're anticipating making some soon - the recipe can be found here so you can try it for yourself - it is well worth doing.
 

Be aware that they spit absolutely EVERYWHERE!  lol

I wanted to use some of my home made hummus in the flatball recipe, but don't feel you have to.  By all means buy in a good reliable hummus (Sabra is our favourite) to use instead.  If you buy in some dipping ammunition (carrot sticks, apple slices, pitta bread, oatcakes - you get the idea), you can make very good use of the leftovers one evening, with a glass of wine.

The Tzatziki is simplicity itself to make, however I did give it a little bit of extra glamour by adding a spoonful of soured cream (I had some looking for a home to go to), baby cucumbers diced very finely (I adore those baby cucumbers) and mint from the garden.  But again, if you don't fancy making it or don't have the time/ingredients - just buy some.  Life is to short to be agonising over bought -v- home made tzatziki .

Now don't be tempted to leave the rocket out of the mix.  I know it's not the cheapest thing to buy (although it has come down in price just lately), but you can use up the remainder as an additional salad leaf - and it can be used to great effect in sandwiches at lunchtime, too.  The rocket adds that textural crisp crunchiness that is so important when all the other ingredients are soft.  Plus, its lovely peppery flavour goes so well and adds that extra dimension to the overall flavour.

Due to the flatbreads providing the carbohydrate input, I didn't think we needed any additional carbs, so served the flatbread/flatballs with a simple salad of lettuce, cherry tomatoes, baby red peppers and red onion.  It really didn't need anything more than that to make a perfect evening meal.

This sort of food is perfect teenager fuel.  My own personal teenager - son & heir - was so in love with these that I'm sure he'd be happy no matter how many times I served them in a week.  They have everything a teenager loves - meat, spice, richness and can be eaten with the fingers.  From a Mum's perspective, they provide all the nutrients that your teenager needs in order to grow well, plus the additional benefits of fibre and fresh food - all of which can be difficult to get into a teenager.  Everyone enjoyed the meal and if you have youngsters in the family, I'd suggest making some flatballs that have less or no Harissa in them and cooking them off first, so that everyone can have what looks like the same meal and the little ones can feel all grown up.  We had two each, but for a smaller appetite I'm quite sure that just one - with the accompanying salad - would be sufficient.

Oh and the other big advantage of this meal, is that it is simplicity itself to put together.  How simply marvellous!  A meal with virtually no guilt burden.  Hurrah!

HARISSA LAMB FLATBALLS IN FLATBREAD WITH HUMMUS   (feeds 3-6)

Ingredients :

For the tzatziki :

150g greek yoghurt
50g sour cream
2-3 baby cucumbers or a 2" chunk of cucumber with seed removed, diced finely
1 tbsp fresh mint leaves, chopped finely
1 tsp mint sauce - the vinegary one
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper.

For the flatballs :

500g minced lamb, fresh from the fridge and very cold
3 tsp Harissa paste (or to taste)
half a red onion, finely diced
1 tsp dried rosemary
2 tbsp fresh finely chopped mint
1 egg yolk
1 tbsp sunflower oil
6 flatbreads (I used sundried tomato & onion flavour ones, but plain would do fine)
200g hummus
50g rocket.

Method :

To make the tzatziki, spoon out the Greek yoghurt and sour cream into a bowl and mix together.  Add the chopped cucumbers, mint and mint sauce and a pinch of salt and pepper.  Stir to combine, taste for seasoning and adjust if necessary, then leave to let the flavours mingle.

In a large bowl, combine the minced lamb with the Harissa paste, red onion, chopped mint, dried rosemary, egg yolk and a good pinch each of salt and pepper.  Mix well so that the ingredients are well combined.

Smooth the top of the mixture, then divide into six by - with the tip of your spoon - drawing a line across to halve, then divide each half into three with two more lines.  This should ensure that you get roughly the same amount for each flatball.

Spoon out one sixth of the mixture into the palm of your hand and shape it into a flatball - or burger - shape approximately a half inch thick (or less), making sure to press it together to prevent any breaking apart later on in the pan.  Place it on a chopping board and continue to shape the remaining five.

Heat the oil in a frying pan over a moderate to high heat, then gently place three of the flatballs into the pan.  Don't try and cook all six together, as this will overcrowd the pan and they'll just poach - which you don't want!  As soon as they are in the pan, leave them alone.  Don't be tempted to turn them, move them or fiddle about with them at all.  When you can see a line of browned lamb creeping up the side of each flatball and the underside is lovely and golden brown, then turn them carefully onto the uncooked side and leave them alone again.

Once the line of browned lamb has met up with the other side and both sides are golden brown, the juice has stopped flowing freely (but hasn't disappeared altogether) - which takes around 15-20 minutes - remove the flatballs from the pan and place onto kitchen paper and put somewhere to keep warm while you cook the remaining three.  You will know when they are cooked through, as when pressed on top they will provide some resistance.

Once all the flatballs are cooked, toast the flatbreads lightly to warm them up.

Take a flatbread and spread the whole of one side with a good layer of hummus.  Lay a small bunch of rocket on top of the hummus, followed by the flatball and finish with a good spoonful of the tzatziki.  Fold the unladen side of the flatbread over and serve with a simple salad and a napkin for the fingers!

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Chilli Marrakech with Lime & Chilli Yoghurt

Well, this recipe couldn't have arrived on a better day for it.

At around 3 a.m. the night before, it started snowing - and continued throughout the day.  Eventually, we had around 4-6 inches of snow on the garden - which is really quite deep for Dorset!

Now ordinarily, I'd have been having successive batches of kittens over this happening.  However, I'd seen the weather forecast and we'd been out and done our weekend's shopping the day before, so it was just a matter of having to drive son & heir to school.  I used to not really bother about driving in the snow, but since moving to Dorset where no road exists that doesn't involve either climbing up or going down a hill, it's a different matter.  One experience of sliding down a hill whilst slowly spinning until hitting the car at the bottom of the hill (and missing all the parked cars - which was a singular miracle) is quite enough and I don't mind admitting I've lost my snow nerve where driving is concerned.  Especially now I own a nice car.  The thought of stoving in one of Alfie's sides (Alfie the Amalfi Lemon coloured Skoda, that is) by crashing in snow is just terrifying.

However, all was peace and tranquillity when at 7 a.m. we had a message from school to say that the school was closed for the day.  And breathe!

That's a lot of snow, for us!

So we spent the day sitting in the warm, watching the snowflakes fall - and trash our baby Olive tree.  Yeah, thanks snow.  Poor little chap, we should have brought him in under cover, but forgot.  I don't think he's ever going to achieve "tree" status, he'll for ever be a bush instead, because of several mishaps involving dogs paws and now the snow.

What a perfect day, therefore, to have a warming Chilli on the menu.  So often, I find myself booked to make a stew when suddenly it's like the Sahara outside, or alternatively, we're booked for a salad on a day like yesterday.  For once, however, I got it right.

The Chilli Marrakech is a recipe taken from the BBC Good Food Magazine.  You can find it here.  (Thanks for pointing me to it, Angela!).  The recipe I detail below contains all the original recipe's ingredients, it has just been a bit re-organised to suit my cooking methods better.  For instance, I make sure to drain all the fat from the meat and so as to not lose too much flavour, I brown the meat before cooking the onions.  It's a small point, but it makes a lot of difference in the eating.  The lamb fat is brilliant mixed with some bird seed and left to solidify.  If you line the container with cling film before filling, it make it easier to get out.  Put it on your bird table and watch the birdies tuck in!

We all really enjoyed this dish.  It is very aromatic and a lot lighter than your usual Mexican style Chilli Con Carne.  In fact, I think to compare it to Chilli Con Carne is a bit daft as they are, really, completely different in just about all ways other than the fact that it's minced meat with spices and a bean.  In this case, it uses lamb, Harissa and chick peas to great effect.  I'm not sure how authentically Moroccan this recipe is - but it uses flavours that originate from Morocco, so if nothing else, it is Moroccan style!

Now I really like Harissa - and most especially the Sainsbury's Speciality Ingredients Harissa paste.  The ingredients are very similar to Ras al hanout spice mix, in that they include rose petals, paprika and cumin.  Obviously it differs in that it is a paste as opposed to a dry spice mix and it also contains rather more chilli - but if you know Ras al hanout, then you will know Harissa.

The recipe also includes additional cumin, paprika and cinnamon, along with fresh ginger, garlic and coriander - so you'll begin to see the kind of level of spicing we're talking about here.  Very aromatic, very flavoursome.

However, none of the spices overtook the lamb - you could very definitely tell it was lamb and not beef involved there.  The addition of chunks of sweet red pepper was great, too - as it gave interest, colour and the occasional burst of lovely sweetness - which always helps when you're eating an intensely spicy (but not hot) combination.

In fact, speaking of spicy heat, I added a pinch of red chilli flakes to my version as I felt that the Harissa just didn't have the punch that the family would be looking for from the dish.  It was a long way from the nose-running kind of hot and spicy that a good Chilli Con Carne should be, but that additional pinch just bolstered the chilli in the Harissa.

Now, the thing that absolutely made the dish - from my perspective - was the Lime & Chilli Yoghurt.  This wasn't included in the original recipe but I would very definitely recommend you make it to accompany this dish.  It only takes a moment or two to make and is just so good along with the chilli.

I didn't serve the chilli with any rice or couscous, but with some sundried tomato & onion flatbreads that came from Asda.  Yes, I know I could have made them - but I could also have wound up incapable of movement by the end of the cooking process - and I'd really like to be able to get from kitchen to chair to eat my meal!  The Asda flatbreads are very nice indeed.  I put them onto a baking tray and give them a little sprinkling of water, followed by 4-6 minutes in a hot oven - and they're perfectly soft but with a crunchy edge.  Just right for dipping and eating alongside.  Yum.

So the next time we've got snow on the horizon, off you go to Sainsbury's for lamb mince and Harissa paste!  You can't go wrong.

CHILLI MARRAKECH with LIME & CHILLI YOGHURT   (serves 4)

Ingredients :

600g minced lamb
1 onion, chopped finely
1 clove garlic, chopped
1 tsp fresh ginger, chopped finely
1-2 tbsp Harissa paste (use less if you like less spicy heat)
1 heaped tsp ground cumin
1 heaped tsp ground coriander
1 heaped tsp ground cinnamon
1 heaped tsp paprika
1 pinch chilli flakes (omit if you like less spicy heat)
400g tin chopped tomatoes
1 long sweet red pepper, de-seeded and cut into chunks
400g tin chick peas, drained (and washed, if in brine)
150ml lamb stock made using 1 stock cube or 1 tsp powder (I used Essential Cuisine lamb stock powder) 
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper
15g fresh coriander, chopped.

For the yoghurt :

1 lime, zest and a little juice
a pinch of chopped fresh coriander
finely chopped red chilli, to taste
4-5 tbsp greek yoghurt
sea salt & freshly ground black pepper.

Method :

1.  In a large saucepan, dry fry the lamb mince until the majority of the liquid has burned off and all the meat is brown.  Spoon the meat out into a bowl using a slotted spoon, so that the fat drains out of the meat and back into the pan.  Drain off all but 2 tbsp of the fat.

2.  Add the onions and cook on a moderate heat until softened.  Add the garlic and ginger, then cook for another minute or so.

3.  Return the meat to the pan and stir through.

4.  Add the Harissa paste and all the spices and stir thoroughly as it cooks, to make sure the paste is distributed evenly throughout the mixture.

5.  Add the chopped tomatoes, red pepper, chick peas and stock.  Again, stir through well to combine.

6.  If you have used a low salt stock, taste to check for seasoning and add as necessary.  Otherwise, add a pinch of sea salt and a good quantity of freshly ground black pepper to taste.

7.  Add three quarters of the chopped coriander and bring to a simmer.  Cook for around 30 minutes, or until the chilli reaches your preferred consistency.

8.  While the chilli is cooking, make the Lime & chilli yoghurt by grating the zest of a lime into a bowl.  Add a pinch of the remaining chopped coriander, the finely chopped red chilli (quantity depends on how spicy you like it - so be cautious when adding and taste before adding a little more), the juice of one third of the lime, the yoghurt and a tiny amount of sea salt & black pepper.  Stir to combine and taste.  Add more lime juice or more chilli, as you prefer. 

9.  Serve the chilli in warmed bowls with the remaining coriander sprinkled over, the Lime & Chilli yoghurt and warmed flatbreads.

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