Moroccan Spiral Meatball Zucchini Bake

5 from 2 votes

Moroccan Spiral Meatball Zucchini Bake

Recipe video above. I love recipes like this - everyday ingredients used in a different way to make something new and interesting! Moroccan-spiced lamb meatballs are baked in a striking spiral arrangement with zucchini and capsicum in a bubbly garlicky tomato sauce. You will be impressed at how soft the meatballs are, and how the deceptively simple tomato sauce gets so much flavour as it bakes!

Serve straight from the pan with flatbreads, couscous or basmati rice.

Inspired by Özlem Warren's Baked Aubergine Kebab with Meatballs from Özlem's Turkish Table.

Prep Time25

Cook Time35

Course: Main

Cuisine: Middle Eastern

Keyword: lamb meatballs, Moroccan Lamb Meatballs

Servings: - 5 people

Calories: 495cal

Author: Nagi

Ingredients

Meatballs:

1/2 cup panko breadcrumbs (substitute regular breadcrumbs)
1/2 onion , grated with a standard box grater
500g / 1 lb lamb mince (ground lamb), or beef (Note 1)
1 egg
1/4 cup pretty finely chopped parsley , plus extra for garnish

Moroccan spice mix:

1 tsp cumin powder
1 tsp coriander power
1 tsp paprika (sweet / regular, or smoky - not spicy)
1/4 tsp cinnamon powder (don't skip this! Magical :) )
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper (or black pepper), tiny amount so doesn't make it spicy
3/4 tsp cooking salt / kosher salt

Vegetables:

2 fat zucchinis / courgettes (5cm/2" wide, 22cm/9" long is ideal), cut into ~20 x 1.2 cm / 0.5" thick rounds (Note 2)
1 large or 1 1/2 regular red capsicum (bell pepper), cut into ~20 x large-ish chunks 5 x 2.5cm / 1 x 2" (Note 3)
1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil , plus extra for drizzling to bake
1/4 tsp each salt and pepper

Garlic tomato sauce:

2 garlic cloves , crushed using garlic press
2 1/2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup warm tap water
1/8 tsp each salt and pepper

Serving

Plain yogurt , thinned with a little water to make it drizzle-able
Flatbreads , rice(basmati recommended), couscous, mash

Cups - Metric

Instructions

ABBREVIATED RECIPE:

Toss Vegetables, mix Sauce. Make meatball mixture, roll and squish 16 meatballs, wedge between zucchini rounds, tuck capsicum in. Pour over sauce, bake 35 minutes at 200°C/375°F (180°C fan).

FULL RECIPE:

Preheat oven to 200°C/375°F (180°C fan-forced).
Toss capsicum and zucchini with the oil, salt and pepper in a bowl, and set aside.
Sauce - Mix the sauce ingredients in a small jug or bowl.
Meatball mixture - Put the breadcrumbs in a bowl and grate the onion over. Toss with fingertips to wet the breadcrumbs with the onion juices. Then add remaining meatball ingredients and the Moroccan spice mix. Mix well with your hands.
Roll & squish - Roll the mixture into 16 balls then squish slightly to 1.5cm / 0.6" thickness (~2.5 tbsp/45g each), about the size of (or slightly larger than) the zucchini rounds.
Stand upright with a zucchini round wedged and arrange in a 26cm/10.5" round cast-iron pan (or baking dish of similar size). I do them in a ring and put residual in the middle. Arrange loosely because next we wedge the capsicum in between wherever you can. Fill the whole pan so everything holds each other up, and use as much capsicum & zucchini as you can (you might have leftover). There are NO RULES with arrangement here, make this your own delicious artwork! :)
Pour sauce over everything, aiming to pour some over everything as best you can. Drizzle all over with about 1 tbsp olive oil.
Bake for 35 minutes until the surface of the meatballs are nicely browned.
Serve with flatbreads or garlic rice, being sure to spoon plenty of the delicious sauce over everything!

Notes

1. Lamb is a Middle Eastern favourite and is sublime with Middle Eastern spice mixes. Beef is very nearly as good. I would not hesitate to make this with beef if that's what I had! Chicken and turkey would also work but I'd dial up the spices a touch.

2. Zucchinis are selfish vegetables, so they don't always grow to the exact size and shape we desire. I know - the audacity! 😂 If I had my way, they would all be 5cm/2" wide, 22cm/9" long - perfect for this recipe. As it happens, you can use any zucchini size you have, it's ok if the meatballs are larger or smaller than your zucchini rounds (it will still taste great!).

Eggplant/aubergine would also be amazing (as used in Ozlem's Turkish Table recipe), but I found it hard to find the right size.

3. Capsicum shape - there are no rules here, just cut chunks per the size guide and wedge in where you can. Just don't make them too small else you'll have too many tiny pieces that cook too fast.

Leftovers keep for 3 days in the fridge (I've been eating leftovers obsessively). Not the best for freezing, vegetables become watery when thawed.

Nutrition per serving, assuming 4 servings.

Nutrition