Best recipes for leftovers: Moroccan style lamb meatballs on a bed of mint and coriander infused couscous
Posted by Fiona Nevile in Lamb, Leftovers | 6 comments
“I thought that it would be too spicy for them but I suppose that Indian dogs eat curry. And dogs in Morocco must wolf down spicy scraps”
“You did feed them earlier, didn’t you?”
We were watching our pack guzzling the leftovers from supper. They are fed early evening but we always give them the scrapings from our supper. A sort of canine Little Foodies thing (Little Foodies are in Italy at the moment and all the Min Pins would love it. Pasta has them jumping through hoops. This is a blog that is well worth ckecking out.)
There is very little that the Min Pins don’t eat now. Dr Quito doesn’t like potatoes and The Contessa isn’t wild about seafood but everything else disappears in a flash. Inca and Great Aunt Daisy Beatyl are happy to help out and patrol for any rejected scraps.
The only things that always remain untouched for all animals sharing our home are salt and mustard. If you have Min Pins you don’t need to read The Lancet if you are concerned about the effects of salt.
We had spaghetti and lamb meatballs last night (using our cheat’s recipe). As I was working late the leftovers were on the menu. I came home longing for spicy food. I have to be careful. Danny is sensitive when it comes to spicy. I added a teaspoonful of Tabasco and four finely chopped Peppadew peppers to the meatball pot and put it on to simmer as I prepared the couscous.
A ‘Moroccan’ style couscous was created with the addition of large handful of fresh herbs. Finely chopped and stirred into the mix (mint and coriander). These infused as the couscous soaked up the stock (250g of couscous added to 400 ml of boiling water and a heaped teaspoonful of Marigold stock powder. Remove from the heat, add a knob of butter/splosh of oil and the herbs. Leave for 5 minutes and fluff up with a fork).
Danny’s fork stopped abruptly mid air when he heard that a teaspoon of Tabasco had been added to the meatballs. Fascinated, I watched the slow progress of the fork to mouth.
Luckily, he loved this meal. If you are worried about adding an ingredient in a recipe add it incrementally and taste. I do this with spicy stuff. If Danny won’t eat it, the Min Pins follow suit.
This meal took 15 minutes to prepare and was enjoyed by us all. Yap.
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Hi Ella,
Having had meatballs the night before the added spiciness made it seem like a completely different dish!
Hi Joanna,
I met a dog once (an Old English Bull Terrier) who ate exactly the same as the family. Cereal for breakfast and meat and two veg in the evening! She seemed to thrive on it.
We don’t go that far but our pack do get leftovers mixed in with their normal food. I reckon that a bit of variety is good for them.
Hi Kathyann,
I find that cooking meatballs with loads of vegetables is a great way of cutting down our meat intake. I love developing recipes for quick, tasty, inexpensive meals.
Another gorgeous recipe to try!Mine will eat it if I don’t tell them what’s in it !Our dogs love anything ,I quite often give them the left over meat mixed with a good helping of pasta or rice !Thanks for all your wonderful recipes I’ll have to have a new book to write them in ! Kathyann (me’s mum’s muffins )
So interesting about what your dogs will eat – I always fret about this a little … but last night, I forgot to fret, and mine (2 Jack Russell terriers) wolfed down some spicy pork, complete with quite a lot of slices of ginger … they loved it, and no nasty after effects either !
Joanna
This seems very tasteful, and a fast and economic way of preparing a good meal. I love couscous, but I’ve never tried Moroccan food.
Hi Amanda,
I added Tabasco to the sauce not the meatballs as these were leftovers from the night before.
If I was making this from scratch I think I’d try adding Tabasco to the meatballs – thanks for the idea:). I also forgot to add herbs to the actual meatballs and missed them.
Thank you Fiona! Love cheating recipes and almost all Moroccan food – this sounds great. Tabasco in the meatballs sounds delicious. I’d normally put it in the sauce but in the meatballs must have made it more subtle?