Harissa Meatballs with Moroccan Chickpea Bowls

Harissa Meatballs with Moroccan Chickpea Bowls

June 4, 2020

Servings: 3-4

Prep: 10 min

Cook: 20 min

Total: 30 min

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Mix up your bowl-game with these spicy harissa meatballs and chickpea bowls, packed with a punch of rich + spicy Moroccan flavors.

By: A Wholesome New World

Ingredients

• For the Meatballs:
• 1 pound ground turkey (or whatever ground meat you have!)
• 1/4 cup harissa paste*
• 3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup finely chopped yellow onion
• 1/4 cup packed flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 1 TBSP dried dill
• 1 TBSP dried oregano
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 2 TSBP olive oil, for pan frying
• For the Bowls:
• 3 TBSP extra-virgin olive oil, divided
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp harissa paste*
• 1 tsp tomato paste
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• Kosher salt
• Freshly ground black pepper
• 2 cups cooked chickpeas, drained
• 1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes (or 3 plum tomatoes roughly chopped)
• Optional Garnish:
• Couscous or your favorite grain base
• Chopped cucumber
• Tzatziki
• Hummus
• Feta
• Fresh dill and/or mint
• A drizzle of olive oil
• Soft Boiled Eggs - see recipe note below

Directions

• Step 1 Make your meatballs: If you intend to bake your meatballs, preheat your oven to 400℉ and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Step 2 In a medium bowl, combine the ground meat, harissa, garlic, onion, parsley, dill, salt, and pepper. Mix until just combined and roll into meatballs, around 1-2 tbsp in size. (I got roughly a dozen meatballs)
• Step 3 Heat a large nonstick skillet or cast iron pan over medium to medium-high heat. Add olive oil. Once hot, add the meatballs and cook for 3-4 minutes per side, or until deeply golden brown all around. Reserve the meatballs to simmer them in your chickpea sauce OR transfer meatballs to prepared baking sheet and bake for 12-15 minutes
• Step 4 For your sauce: Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in another large pan over medium heat until shimmering. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and fragrant, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, harissa, tomato paste, cumin, paprika, and cinnamon, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 2 minutes. Stir in the chickpeas and tomatoes with their juices.
• Step 5 Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to low and simmer for 20 minutes. You can place your fried meatballs in the sauce to simmer so they’ll soak up all the juices. Use this opportunity to prepare the base of your bowls now (I made couscous).
• Step 6 To assemble bowls, spread a generous dollop of hummus on the bottom of your bowl. Top with couscous or your preferred grain, followed by the chickpea sauce and meatballs. Sprinkle with crumbled feta or tzatiki – like I did! Drizzle bowls with a little extra virgin olive oil and a squeeze of lemon and top with fresh herbs (like dill!). Serve with extra lemon wedges and season with salt and pepper before serving.

I had the best intentions to post this last night, but then a raging thunderstorm blew through after bedtime and threw my kids into hysterics. So by the time the storm passed and I put them back to bed, all I wanted to do was pour a BIG glass of wine and chill out with the hubby and watch Ozark. (Just started the first season and we are HOOKED!) So better late than never, I’m finally getting to it now.

I honestly never thought meatballs could get boring, but then the quarantine happened and now all bets are off. I’ve had to start really mixing it up in the kitchen to keep it interesting, both for me as a chef and for my family as the guinea pigs. Like most of my recipes, I start with one or two ingredients I need or want to use (in this case, Trader Joe’s new harissa paste which I’ve been dying to use, and ground turkey). And whenever I’m low on dinner inspo, a good “themed” bowl is such a nice way to make dinner fun. Just start with the type of cuisine (good examples are Mexican, Greek, Asian), then pick your protein, a grain, and then other ingredients that will go along with it. A great example from the blog is our Korean Bibimbap – definitely worth a look!

So for this bowl – my equation was: Moroccan themed = Harissa meatballs + couscous + various Moroccan spices and some of my favorite add-ons (cucumber, tzatziki, soft boiled eggs). Packed with flavor and some definite HEAT so prepare to knock your socks off!

SOME RECIPE NOTES: 

WHERE TO FIND HARISSA PASTE*:

Harissa is gaining a lot of popularity lately in the foodie world. For those who don’t know much about it, Harissa is a Tunisian hot chili pepper paste, the main ingredients of which are roasted red peppers, Baklouti peppers or serrano peppers, spices and herbs such as garlic paste, caraway seeds, coriander seeds, cumin and olive oil to carry the oil-soluble flavors. Varying brands are more spicy than others. If you’re using the Trader Joe’s harissa, you might want to scale down to use half the amount I recommend above, as it’s super spicy! Make sure you taste whatever harissa you’re using before adding it to the meatballs and the sauce to gauge how much you might need. The best place to find harissa paste in your store will probably be the international aisle. Check the shelves with Mediterranean and Middle Eastern spices and condiments.

HOW TO SOFTBOIL AN EGG (courtesy of Bon Appétit):