Meatballs of any kind are always a huge hit in our house.

It’s fun to change things up a bit from time to time, so this recipe ditches the classic beef mince we often make our meatballs with and uses lamb mince instead. By all means, you can use beef mince in this recipe if lamb isn’t your thing.

The flavours of Moroccan cuisine go beautifully with lamb. The classic spices that make up the moroccan flavour are cumin, cardamon, cinnamon, paprika, turmeric, ginger, fennel and paprika.

To make things easy, look out for a spice mix called ‘Ras al Hanout’, in your supermarket or green grocer or deli. I keep this spice mix in my pantry at all times as it is a perfect spice combination that can be used to rub on meats, throw in casseroles, tagines or soups.

When I make meatballs I often do it in 2 stages. I make up the meatballs and leave them covered in the fridge. Then after a busy afternoon, all I need to do is brown them and finish cooking them in their sauce.

This recipe also freezes perfectly if you want to get organised and have dinner made on the weekend for the week ahead.

Serves 6

Ingredients

Meatballs

800gm lamb mince

1 tablespoon of Ras al Hanout (Moroccan Spice Mix)

1/2 a spanish onion, peeled and finely diced

1 small carrot, finely grated

Sauce

1 x 700ml jar of tomato passata

150ml chicken stock

2 cinnamon sticks

1 tablespoon of honey

Chopped Parsley to garnish

Method

Combine lamb mince, spice mix, onion and carrot with your hands.

Roll the mixture into bite sized balls. You can do this step in advance if you wish, just leave covered in the fridge.

Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large pan over medium heat.

Brown the meatballs in batches, turning them a couple of times.

Remove the meatballs and leave on paper towel while you start the sauce.

Pour all of the sauce ingredients into the pan and bring to a gentle boil.

Add the meatballs back in to the sauce, lower the heat to a simmer and put a lid on. Simmer gently for 15 minutes.

Remove the lid and simmer for another 5 minutes to slightly thicken the sauce.

Serve on a bed of Cous Cous or Risoni (rice shaped pasta), alongside some steamed green vegetables and garnish with parsley.