Moroccan Meatball Soup
This is not authentic Moroccan food, so don't tell Paul Wolfert. I will claim some inspiration from reading her remarkable tome The Food of Morocco however as well as Claudia Roden's revised classic New Book of Middle Eastern Food - not only did she have to revise this, I had to replace my beaten-up paperback with a cloth-bound second hand edition, such is its usefulness to the cook and appeal to the browser. The flavor spectrum here is partly North African, but partly Turkish - and I am aware of Turkish soups involving kofte but no real Moroccan equivalent.
The basic idea is to use combine meatballs, vegetables, and tomato puree or similar with flavorsome ingredients that don't need an additional stock or broth, then add some grains or pulses to make it a one-dish meal. The specifics can and should vary according to what you have on hand. I'll put it a bit more schematically before I give details of mine:
-Make walnut-sized meatballs with an egg, some spices, and a small amount of grain or starch - this is more an Italian style of meatball I admit, but it works well and helps texture to my mind.
-Brown the meatballs in olive oil in a heavy-bottomed stock pot or similar; remove, and then add chopped onions and a mix of other aromatic (celery, carrots, fennel) and starchy (sweet potatoes, squash) diced vegetables to the pot, sautéing to soften and develop their flavor.
-Add more spices - those suited to a tagine - as well as some canned tomatoes or puree, water, and a preserved lemon, chopped. Add cooked pulses such as chickpeas and/or grains such as small pasta or couscous-like pellets like mograbieh or berkoukes; when these are tender return the meatballs to the pot.
Now here are some more specific instructions for how my recent version was made.
Ingredients
Meatballs
250g/8 oz ground beef
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbps breadcrumbs (or cooked rice or similar)
1 egg
3 Tbps olive oil
Soup
1 small onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
2 sticks celery, diced
1/2 sweet potato, sliced and then cut into coin-sized pieces
1/2 cup of small pasta or larger-style couscous
1 can of tomatoes with juice or equivalent
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp turmeric
1 preserved lemon
Method
Combine all meatball ingredients and form into walnut-sized balls; chill if you have time, or just proceed to brown in olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pot. Remove, then add diced vegetables to the fat and sauté; when well mixed, add soup spices, sauté for a few more minutes then add tomatoes, 3 cups of water, and lemon. Bring to simmer, then add pasta and cook over low heat for 20 minutes or so, until pasta is tender. Taste for seasoning; return meatballs to pot and heat until warmed through.
Serve in deep bowls, with some harissa and flatbreads.
The basic idea is to use combine meatballs, vegetables, and tomato puree or similar with flavorsome ingredients that don't need an additional stock or broth, then add some grains or pulses to make it a one-dish meal. The specifics can and should vary according to what you have on hand. I'll put it a bit more schematically before I give details of mine:
-Make walnut-sized meatballs with an egg, some spices, and a small amount of grain or starch - this is more an Italian style of meatball I admit, but it works well and helps texture to my mind.
-Brown the meatballs in olive oil in a heavy-bottomed stock pot or similar; remove, and then add chopped onions and a mix of other aromatic (celery, carrots, fennel) and starchy (sweet potatoes, squash) diced vegetables to the pot, sautéing to soften and develop their flavor.
-Add more spices - those suited to a tagine - as well as some canned tomatoes or puree, water, and a preserved lemon, chopped. Add cooked pulses such as chickpeas and/or grains such as small pasta or couscous-like pellets like mograbieh or berkoukes; when these are tender return the meatballs to the pot.
Now here are some more specific instructions for how my recent version was made.
Ingredients
Meatballs
250g/8 oz ground beef
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cinnamon
2 Tbps breadcrumbs (or cooked rice or similar)
1 egg
3 Tbps olive oil
Soup
1 small onion, diced
1 carrot, diced
1/2 green pepper, diced
2 sticks celery, diced
1/2 sweet potato, sliced and then cut into coin-sized pieces
1/2 cup of small pasta or larger-style couscous
1 can of tomatoes with juice or equivalent
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp turmeric
1 preserved lemon
Method
Combine all meatball ingredients and form into walnut-sized balls; chill if you have time, or just proceed to brown in olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pot. Remove, then add diced vegetables to the fat and sauté; when well mixed, add soup spices, sauté for a few more minutes then add tomatoes, 3 cups of water, and lemon. Bring to simmer, then add pasta and cook over low heat for 20 minutes or so, until pasta is tender. Taste for seasoning; return meatballs to pot and heat until warmed through.
Serve in deep bowls, with some harissa and flatbreads.
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