Meatballs with couscous

Serves:

Ingredients

• 600g beef mince
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons water
• half a cup breadcrumbs or cornflake crumbs
• 2 cups beef stock
• 2 cups couscous
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• half a cup flat leaf parsley leaves, chopped

Method

Combine mince, tomato paste, water and crumbs in a large bowl. Mix well and form 2 tablespoonfuls of mixture into small meatballs. I made about 20 meatballs.

Heat a non-stick frypan to medium heat. Add oil and cook meatballs until browned on all sides and cooked through, about 10 minutes.

Bring stock to the boil in a small saucepan, stir in couscous and spices and turn off heat. Leave to absorb stock for 5 minutes, then use a fork to separate the couscous grains, stir in oil and parsley.

Serve meatballs with couscous.

Notes:

• The sweet-spicy couscous is a nice contrast to the meatballs. I make these meatballs quite plain so that my kids will eat them. Leftover meatballs can be reheated the next night and presented as mini cheeseburgers.
• Try serving the meatballs with toothpicks on the side the kids will have a ball (pardon the pun) stabbing the meatballs, dropping them on the floor etc.
• Recipe created by Melissa Hughes for Kidspot.

Serving Suggestions

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