This is one of my favorite recipes. A friend of mine made his version of this meal for me and I have been crazy over it since. There are so many flavors in this dish and it is a great comfort food. As the weather starts to get colder, this is a great meal to warm you up.
This recipe yields 6 servings but you can stretch it out if you put it over pearl couscous or add more vegetables such as zucchini, yellow squash, bell peppers, or eggplant to it. Just keep in mind that doing so will change the nutrition information I provided at the bottom. I adjusted and substituted some of the ingredients from the original recipe to make it a tad healthier and less spicy for my tolerance. The original recipe also uses the traditional tagine method for this dish (which I hear makes it taste even better) but that’s not a common kitchen item so I opted for the standard large saucepan with a lid.
Ingredients for meatballs
- 1 lb ground turkey
- 1 tsp salt
- ground pepper to taste
- 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp paprika powder
- 1/2 large onion, minced
- 1 Tbsp dried parsley flakes
- pinch of cayenne pepper
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
Ingredients for sauce
- 1/2 large onion, chopped
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 2-14 oz cans of diced tomatoes
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
- Ras el hanout (I omitted the chili flakes and used 2 tsp ground pepper instead of the peppercorns)
- 4 eggs
- pepper to taste
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
To make the meatballs, combine the turkey, salt, pepper, cumin, parsley, and cayenne. Mince the onion and add it to the turkey. After mixing, form 12 large meatballs.
In a small skillet on low heat, cook the other half of the large onion in olive oil. In a separate large sauce pan, heat olive oil and half-cook the meatballs turning every so often to brown the outside but not completely cook the inside.
Add the sauteed onions from the small skillet to the saucepan of meatballs. Add the minced garlic. I just love the smell of freshly chopped garlic! Add both cans of the diced tomatoes, salt, cumin, pepper, and Ras el hanout to the saucepan and give it a good stir. Put the lid on the saucepan and let simmer for about 20 minutes. Make sure meatballs are cooked thoroughly after 20 minutes (which they should be).
After 20-25 minutes, crack the eggs in separate places without breaking the yolk on top. Do not stir them in. Put the lid back on and let it simmer for an additional 10 minutes until the white of the eggs set. You want the yolk to be runny. A couple of my egg broke when I cracked them in. 🙁 But it still turned out delicious!
Nutrition facts (1 egg and 2 meatballs per serving), total of 6 servings: 335 calories, 22g total fat, 1071mg sodium, 12g total carbohydrates, 21g protein.
This recipe is not appropriate for a low sodium diet but is great for those counting calories to lose weight and low in carbohydrates (unless couscous is added to the meal).