Tagine Machine: Part II

With just a few days until I head to San Francisco for Thanksgiving (the most wonderful day of the year!), I should be posting about a Turkey Day treat. But I've been meaning to write about the recipe that inspired my tagine tangent, the Moroccan meatball kefta tagine that I saw on Rachael's show a few weeks ago.

I'm always skeptical of Rachael's recipes, but I occasionally stumble upon one that becomes a favorite (like this awesome steakhouse chili). And I'm on a major poached egg kick right now, so anything with yummy, runny egg yolks sounds delicious to me. So with some minor trepidation, I moved forward with this Moroccan marvel.

And I'm glad I did! I wouldn't rank it right up there with the chili, but this was super delicious. I, of course, made a number of substitutions, including replacing Rachael's beef with turkey, omiting chickpeas at Bill's request, and shaking up my own spice blend. I especially liked the little bit smokey, little bit spicey kick from the blend I concocted (note that I didn't provide actual measurements because I truly did just dump enough for a single serving into a bowl and shake to combine ... you can find the recipe for Rachael's original large batch here). The eggs really did add a richness that would have been otherwise absent from the sauce, and I could have gobbled up all of those turkey meatballs straight from the oven. (Consider that my tribute to Thanksgiving this week!)

Moroccan Meatballs with Eggs
Ingredients:
For Spice Blend
Pinch cumin
Pinch paprika
Pinch nutmegPinch cinnamon

Pinch cardamom

Pinch allspice

Pinch cayenne pepper

Pinch ground cloves

For the Kefta

3/4 lb. ground turkey

1/3 cup plain bread crumbs

3 eggs (1 for meatballs, 2 for poaching)

1 onion, finely chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

Pinch cinnamon

Pinch nutmeg

Salt and pepper

Olive oil

2 small zucchini, chopped

2 (14 oz.) cans diced tomatoes

1 (8 oz.) can tomato sauce

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon spice blend

Directions:
To make the spice blend, combine spices in a small bowl. Set aside.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Arrange a wire rack over a baking sheet.

In a large bowl, combine turkey, bread crumbs, 1 egg, 2 tablespoons onion, 2 cloves minced garlic, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, pepper, and 1 tablespoon olive oil. Roll turkey mixture into small balls and arrange on wire rack. Bake until cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add remaining onion and garlic, and zucchini. Cook 7 to 8 minutes, then add the diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, honey, and spice blend. Bring to a simmer. Remove meatballs from oven and place in sauce.

Make 2 wells in the sauce and drop in eggs (I found it helpful to crack each egg into a ramekin, then slide them into the sauce). Cover pot and simmer to poach, about 4 to 5 minutes. Serve over rice.