Name: Lamb keftethes with pumpkin and feta
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 50 ml olive oil; 2 Spanish onions, thinly sliced; 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped; 1 tbsp ras el hanout; 2 tsp dried mint; 500 ml veal stock (2 cups); 400 gm canned cherry tomatoes; 500 gm butternut pumpkin, cut into thin wedges; 2 lemons, juice only (or to taste); 1 preserved lemon, flesh and pith removed, rind thinly sliced; To serve: feta, mint leaves and flat bread; Keftethes; 600 gm minced lamb; ½ Spanish onion, finely chopped; 1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk; 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped; 1 tbsp ras el hanout; 2 lemons, finely grated rind only; 2 tsp dried mint

Ingredients

50 ml olive oil

2 Spanish onions, thinly sliced

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 tbsp ras el hanout

2 tsp dried mint

500 ml veal stock (2 cups)

400 gm canned cherry tomatoes

500 gm butternut pumpkin, cut into thin wedges

2 lemons, juice only (or to taste)

1 preserved lemon, flesh and pith removed, rind thinly sliced

To serve: feta, mint leaves and flat bread

Keftethes

600 gm minced lamb

½ Spanish onion, finely chopped

1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 tbsp ras el hanout

2 lemons, finely grated rind only

2 tsp dried mint

Method

Main

1.Heat 30ml olive oil in a large frying pan, add onion and garlic, stir until tender (4-5 minutes). Add ras el hanout and mint, cook until fragrant (1-2 minutes), add stock, tomato and pumpkin and simmer for 10 minutes.

2.Meanwhile, for keftethes, combine ingredients in a bowl, season to taste, mix with your hands, then roll into 20 meatballs.

3.Heat remaining oil in a large frying pan over high heat, add meatballs and brown well all over, turning occasionally (2-3 minutes). Add to tomato mixture, simmer until just cooked through (5-8 minutes). Add lemon juice and preserved lemon rind, scatter with feta and mint, and serve immediately with flat bread.

Note Ras el hanout is a North African spice blend, available online from herbies.com.au.
This recipe is from the August 2009 issue of Australian Gourmet Traveller.
Notes