Meatballs are one of those dishes that every culture has claimed as their own, and honestly they are all right. But once you braise a meatball in chermoula you will have a hard time going back to anything else.
Chermoula is a North African herb and spice sauce, bright with cilantro and parsley, warm with cumin and paprika, with a depth that tomato sauce alone cannot replicate. I use Mina chermoula as the base here, stir in tomato sauce and let the meatballs braise low and slow with chunks of zucchini until everything is tender, saucy and deeply flavorful. The sauce gets into every crevice of every meatball and the zucchini soaks up all of those spiced juices until it is almost falling apart in the best possible way.
This is the kind of weeknight dinner that tastes like a weekend project. One pan, simple technique and the kind of flavors that make people lean across the table and ask what is in this.
Moroccan Chermoula Meatballs with Zucchini
Ingredients
- 1 onion finely diced
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 3 lbs ground beef
- 1 bunch Italian parsley
- 1 tbsp kosher salt
- 2 large green zucchini cut into 1-in thick slices on the diagonal
- 1 jar Mina Tomato Chermoula Simmer Sauce
- 1 15 oz can tomato sauce
Instructions
- Finely dice an onion and saute it in a large pot on low heat with 2 tbsp of olive oil for 30 minutes. Turn the onions every 5 minutes so that they don't burn. Let cool.
- Preheat oven to 400° and line a tray with parchment paper.
- In a large mixing bowl, add sauteed onions, ground beef, chopped Italian parsley, panko breadcrumbs, and kosher salt. Mix well with your hands.
- Roll the meat mixture into 2 inch round balls and flatten slightly on the tray. There should be about 30 balls in total. Bake for 15 minutes to render the fat.
- Mix together chermoula sauce and tomato sauce. Pour half of the mixture into a large enameled cast iron braiser.
- Add the meatballs to the braiser and place zucchini slices between the meatballs in a pattern. Sprinkle salt over the zucchini.
- Pour over remaining sauce mixture. Bring pot to a boil, cover and simmer for 30-45 minutes until the meatballs and zucchini are cooked all the way through. Serve with basmati rice and a delicious salad.