*What spaghetti and meatballs is to Italy, meatballs and couscous is to Israel. Throw this in the crockpot in the morning and have Mediterranean comfort food by that night! If you have a big enough crockpot double the recipe and invite friends. Hint: For the breadcrumbs, I substituted my leftover matzo meal from Passover.
Ingredients
½ cup tomato paste
2 28 ounce cans whole tomatoes, coarsely chopped
2 teaspoons fennel seeds
2 teaspoons grated orange rind
2 teaspoons ground cumin
½ teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon salt
¼ to ½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
½ cup dry breadcrumbs
¼ cup raisins
¼ cup onion, chopped fine
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon ground cumin
½ teaspoon dried oregano
¼ teaspoon cinnamon
1 ½ pounds ground beef
1 egg white
3 cups cooked couscous
Directions
1) To prepare sauce, combine in crockpot tomato paste, canned tomatoes, and spices.
2) To prepare the meatballs, combine breadcrumbs, raisins, onion, spices, beef, and egg in bowl. Mix well. Shape meat mixture into 20-30 meatballs.
3) Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Lightly brown half of the meatballs in the skillet while stirring frequently, about 3 minutes. Place meatballs in crockpot with sauce. Brown the other half of the meatballs and add those to the sauce. Stir gently to coat.
4) Cover and cook on low for 6 hours.
5) Serve over couscous.
*Recipe by Shelley Neese, vice president of The Jerusalem Connection. Click here for her articles and videos.
