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I recently tried this recipe - and found it too good to keep to myself. It came from the brilliant Riverford Organic, just down the road towards Totnes.

Serve this classic Moroccan dish with warm pitta or flatbreads and a dollop of plain yoghurt. It goes well with a fresh tomato and olive salad. Ras al hanout is a fragrant North African spice blend. Its exact contents vary, and you can't find it you can mix together a little of these spices that you might already have: cumin, coriander, turmeric, nutmeg, chilli, pepper. Keep any you have leftover to sprinkle on roasted veg, as a dry rub for meat, or to liven up stews, soups and tagines.

method

To make the kofta, mix the mince, onion, mint, ras al hanout and parsley together in a large bowl. Season and then knead for a minute or so, to make sure it is well combined. Mould into small balls, using about 1 tablespoon of the mixture for each one.

Bring a pan of boiling water to the boil and reduce the heat to a simmer. Gently lower in the kofta and cook for 10 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon and keep to one side.

In a flameproof tagine (or shallow heavy-based casserole or deep frying pan), melt the butter. Add the chard or cayenne and season.

Cook for a couple of minutes until the chard has wilted slightly, then add the kofta to the pan with a couple of ladles of the cooking liquid.

Make 4 spaces between the kofta in each quarter of the pan and crack an egg into each one. Simmer until the eggs are cooked but still have runny yolks.

Serve sprinkled with the cumin seeds and parsley leaves.

ingredients

  • 450g lamb mince
  • 1 large onion, finely chopped
  • 2 heaped tsp dried mint
  • 2 tsp ras al hanout
  • 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
  • 1 tbsp butter
  • 300g spinach or chard, tough stalks removed, leaves chopped
  • pinch of cayenne or paprika
  • 4 eggs
  • 2 tsp cumin seeds, toasted in a dry frying pan for 1 min
  • a few fresh parsley leaves to garnish
  • salt & pepper

 

For more recipes like this go to Riverford.co.uk