MKMW - Morocco Bound! Moroccan Kefta Meatballs in Butter Sauce

This month in My Kitchen My World, we traveled to Morocco!!  Chandler and I love middle eastern food so this was a hit with us.  I went through many moroccan recipes before finally deciding on one.  I chose Moroccan Kefta Meatballs in Butter Sauce and I was so glad I did.

For those of you, like me, that do not know the true meaning of "kefta," it generally refers to ground meat.  You could make these from ground beef, ground turkey, ground lamb, or do a combination of meats.  For convenience, I had ground beef already so that is what I used.   The meat is well seasoned with plenty of fresh herbs and spices, and then shaped into balls and sauteed in butter.  I was a bit surprised the recipe did not call for an egg to hold the shape, but these did fine without.

The recipe said to take Moroccan bread and dip into the sauce, but unfortunately, I had no sauce.  Not sure what went wrong there, but the meatballs were delicious.  It was suggested on the recipe that you serve with homemade mashed potatoes, green beans and garlic toast, so that is what I did, sans the garlic toast.

Go over to My Kitchen My World and see what the other travelers created this month!  I can't wait to go there and see what creative ideas the other group members shared.

And do try these meatballs.  They were fabulous.

Serves Four.

1 lb. ground beef, lamb or turkey
2 T. very finely chopped onion
2 T. chopped fresh parsley
2 T. chopped fresh cilantro
1 tsp. paprika
1 tsp. cumin
3/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. black pepper or cayenne pepper (I used black)
For the sauce,
4 T. butter
1 T. chopped parsley and/or cilantro (I used both)
1 tsp. lemon juice, or more to taste
2 or 3 saffron threads, crumbled (optional)

Mix the meat with the onion, parsley, cilantro and spices.  Knead well and shape the kefta into small meatballs.  These can be tiny or 3/4 inch in diameter.  Melt the butter in a large saute pan over medium heat and add the meatballs.  Cook until brown on all sides stirring frequently.
Add the lemon juice, parsley and saffron to the pan and continue cooking for a few minutes longer.  Serve immediately.

Comments

Unknown said…
Great recipe, and I am totally drooling over here
Anonymous said…
Oh, these look delicious! Before deciding to participate in MKMW, I really had no idea what constituted Moroccan food so it was a great learning experience. So far all the recipes I've seen posted have looked great which makes me think it's a cuisine I should learn some more about!
Anonymous said…
Those look great! The spice combination sounds tasty - definitely not your run-of-the-mill meatball!
Kayte said…
These look and sound very delicious, love the flavors mentioned in the recipe, so will try these for the meat-loving guys around here. I had such fun with all this all month as I had no idea what Moroccan cooking involved other than couscous. Now, what are we going to make for Japan???? I have no idea on that one either!
joannabug said…
Those look amazing! I love making meatballs, and the Middle-Eastern flavors sound fantastic.

MKMW is such a fun adventure!

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