Chicken 'merguez' meatballs
5
Points®
Total time: 40 min • Prep: 20 min • Cook: 20 min • Serves: 4 • Difficulty: Easy
This tasty meatball and couscous recipe is inspired by merguez – a spicy sausage from North Africa.
Ingredients
Calorie Controlled Brown Bread
4 slice(s), torn into small pieces
Skimmed Milk
100 ml
Chicken breast, skinless, raw
400 g, diced
Egg, whole, raw
1 medium, raw, lightly beaten
Garlic
2 clove(s), crushed
Harissa paste
1 tablespoon(s)
Cumin seeds
¾ teaspoon(s), level, ground
Fennel Seeds
1 teaspoon(s), level
Coriander, Dried
½ teaspoon(s), level, ground
Calorie controlled cooking spray
4 spray(s)
Chicken stock cube(s)
1 cube(s), make up to 500ml with hot water
Wholewheat Couscous, dry
150 g
Courgette
2 medium, thinly sliced into long ribbons
Peppers, all types
1 medium, deseeded and thinly sliced
Red onion
1 small, cut into thin wedges
Lemon Juice, Fresh
3 tablespoon(s), plus wedges to serve
0% fat natural Greek yogurt
150 g
Mint, Fresh
3 tablespoon(s), chopped, plus a few mint sprigs to garnish
Instructions
1
Tear the bread into chunks and soak in the milk for 5 minutes. Pulse the chicken in a food processor until roughly chopped. Add the soaked bread, egg, garlic, harissa paste, ½ teaspoon of the cumin, the fennel seeds and ground coriander. Season and process until smooth but retaining some texture.
2
Use your hands to shape the mixture into 20 meatballs and put on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. Chill in the freezer for 20 minutes to firm up.
3
Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas mark 6. Take the meatballs out of the freezer, mist with cooking spray, then bake for 20 minutes until cooked through and golden.
4
Meanwhile, bring the stock to the boil and add the couscous. Boil for 6-8 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain and set aside.
5
Heat a griddle pan over a medium-high heat. Put the courgettes, pepper and onion in a large bowl, mist with cooking spray and season well. Griddle for 2 minutes on each side until just charred and tender – you’ll need to do this in batches. Toss the veg with the couscous and half the lemon juice.
6
In a small bowl, mix the yogurt with the mint and remaining lemon juice and cumin.
7
Serve the meatballs and couscous garnished with the mint sprigs, with the yogurt and lemon wedges on the side.
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