Morrocan kofte with spicy tomato sauce

My fellow foodie friend of many years Jonny came round for dinner tonight so I wanted to give him a decent feed.

When it comes to feeding men, I find you can’t go wrong with meat on a stick!

The Good Food magazine theme continues with this extremely easy and cheap recipe from the June issue:

500g pack minced lamb
1 small red onion, finely chopped
1 tsp ground coriander
1 tbsp chopped mint

For the sauce

1 tbsp olive oil
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes
1-2 tsp harissa
1 tsp sugar
200g tub Greek yoghurt
2 tbsp toasted pine nuts

1. Using your hands, mix the meat in a bowl with the onion, coriander, mint and plenty of seasoning. Shape into 8 sausages, about 10cm long, then thread a bamboo skewer through the centre of each.

2. To make the sauce, heat the oil in a pan, add the garlic and fry beiefly. Add tomatoes, harissa, sugar and seasoning. Simmer, uncovered, for 15-20 mins until the sauce had thickened.

3. Grill the kofte for 6-8 mins, turning until they are nicely browned. Spoon the sauce over a warm platter, drizzle over the yoghurt and put the kofte on top. Scatter with pine nuts and serve with pittas or Cous cous.

Tips:

Soak skewers in water for 20 mins before using to prevent them burning under the grill.

I found 2 tsp harissa in the sauce mildly spicy but not fiery.

I chucked some chopped coriander on the finished dish to garnish.

I served it with Waitrose garlic and lemon cous cous.

It’s a great dish to prepare in advance. I assembled the kofte and then stuck them in the fridge ready for cooking. I also pre-made the sauce and just re-heated it.

So all I had to do when Jonny arrived was grill the kofte, heat up the sauce and prepare the cous cous. Simple!

Jonny enjoyed the nosh and promptly took a snap of the recipe on his I-phone – the ultimate compliment from him!

Matthew’s on his way home from the pub as I type this, so no doubt some meat on a stick will be well received.

Here’s to a sunny London weekend.