Kefta (Meatball) Tagine for Marlena Spieler

Algerian cuisine is a sauce driven cuisine.

Lunch is often a fresh salad made from market fresh vegetables and a citrus and olive oil dressing or vinaigrette. The acid in the dressing makes the vegetables release their juices. Plenty of khobz or kesra (bread) is served to mop up all the good flavor.

And we tend to like our tagines with plenty of sauce for spooning over couscous and dipping with bread or even fried potatoes.

The inaugural dish for Inter(National) Tagine month is for my friend Marlena Spieler who posted this morning about meatballs on twitter. So, I told her that if she likes meatballs, she will love kefta (meatball) tagine. I'm going use the earthier, hotter spices characteristic of Eastern Algerian cooking, because Marlena likes big and bold flavors!

This kefta can be served with fried potato wedges or French fries. Optional garnish for the potatoes is finely minced garlic, finely chopped flat leaf parsely or cilantro and grated parmesan cheese. (Algerians like fried potatoes and parmesan cheese). You can also serve kefta tagine with bread or pasta. If you can't find North African khobz or kesra where you live, ciabatta, baguette, or barbari bread are good options. Pasta can be the more traditional fidwash (fideos) or spaghetti,

Ingredients:

For the keftas

olive oil for sauteeing

1lb 6oz ground lamb or beef

2 garlic cloves, minced

1½ tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp ground coriander seeds

1 tsp hot paprika

1/4 tsp ground turmeric

2 tbsp chopped fresh flat leaf parsley

Salt and pepper to taste

For the sauce:

3 tbsp olive oil

1 large shallot, finely chopped

½ tsp cayenne or 1 tsp harissa

2 tablespoons olive oil

Preparation methods:

For the kefta

Place the ground meat, garlic, spices, hebrs and seasoning into a bowl and mix until combined, do not overmix.

Shape the mixture into approximately 30 meatballs (kefta)

Heat a tablespoon of oil in a flameware tagine or casserole over medium high heat and fry the kefta in batches until golden brown allover. (Traditionally, the kefta would not be browned, but for this recipe, I prefer to brown for color and flavor). Reserve browned kefta in a bowl.

For the sauce:

Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a flameware tagine or casserole and fry the shallots and garlic 6-8 minutes, or until softened.

Add the tomatoes, spices, salt and pepper to taste and simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for 30 minutes.

Add the meatballs and simmer gently for 8-10 minutes or until cooked through.

 

Comments

[chef zadi]

thanks jenn! some of my students came up great leftover ideas for tagines. beef cheek tagine tacos and chicken tagine tamales.

[Jenn @LeftoverQueen]

This sounds really delicious!

[chefzadi]

thanks sister!

[kadirecipes]

This looks yummy. I gonna try it some time.
Thanks for sharing.