Allegra McEvedy's meatballs

By Birgitta

Ingredients

• for the meatballs:
• 11/2 wholemeal flatbreads, roughly 20cm in diameter, or pitta
• 120 ml milk (you can use water if you're dairy free)
• 1 kg minced lamb
• a small bunch of parsley, finely chopped
• a small handful of mint, finely chopped
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• salt and pepper
• for the sauce:
• 30 ml olive oil
• 3 cloves garlic, crushed
• 2 x 800g tins of chopped tomatoes
• 11/2 tbs harissa
• a handful of basil, leaves picked and chopped
• a handful of parsley chopped
• salt and pepper

Details

Servings 6
Adapted from guardian.co.uk

Preparation

Step 1

Rip the flatbread into pieces and soak in the milk for 10 minutes. Then put the bread into a mixing bowl, add the mince and stir in the parsley, mint, oregano, garlic and some seasoning. Mix well, then roll the mixture into walnut-sized balls (about 20g each). Either on a griddle pan (best) or under a very hot grill, brown the balls quickly. It's all about colouring them and not cooking them through - 5 minutes' cooking time, with about 3 turns on the griddle.

To make the sauce, heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and gently fry the garlic. Tip in the tomatoes and harissa and simmer for 25-30 minutes, until the sauce has reduced. Put in the meatballs and continue to simmer for a further 20 minutes with a lid on until the sauce looks about right. Lastly, stir in the herbs and have a final seasoning check.