allegra mcevedy Archives

I was overjoyed to discover there was a Leon on my “doorstep” – Bluewater to be precise. Well it’ s not in London, so that’s a start. The family and I went there and tried out a bunch of things. It was little unconventional but healthy, hearty and good fun. The hands-down dish of the day was the meatballs, who have been praised by all sorts, including some Gordon Ramsay chap.

I was ecstatic to discover the recipe on the Guardian website. Trying it myself, it was a recipes of ups and downs. The sauce was a disaster, calling for 1½ tablespoons of harissa. Even taking it down to a teaspoon was still volcanic. Maybe I possess the hottest harissa on the planet, I don’t know. The sauce was ruined though, burning hot. The meatballs themselves was lovely though – the clever bit is torn-up soggy pitta breads, giving a earthy, toasted flavour that’d be really hard to put your finger on if you didn’t know what was in them.

So meatballs = yes, sauce = no.

(Incidentally, the leftovers made for a mean moussaka the following week topped with grilled aubergine and bechamel!)

Want more ideas for leftovers? Or what to cook with the things lurking at the back of your fridge? Check out Gumbo, a recipe search engine that I recently discovered. Gumbo helps you discover new recipes using the ingredients you have in your kitchen, thereby reducing your food waste. What a great way to make the most with what you already have.

Leon meatballs

Servings 6 people

Author Gary @ BigSpud

Ingredients

For the meatballs

6 pitta breads
120 ml milk
1 kg minced lamb
A small bunch of parsley finely chopped
A small handful of mint finely chopped
1 tsp dried oregano
2 cloves of garlic chopped

For the sauce

30 ml olive oil
3 cloves of garlic crushed
2 x 800g tins of chopped tomatoes
1 teaspoon harissa
A handful of basil chopped
A handful of parsley chopped
Salt and pepper

Instructions

Rip the flatbread into pieces and soak in the milk for 10 minutes. Then put the bread into a mixing bowl, add the mince and stir in the parsley, mint, oregano, garlic and some seasoning.
Mix well, then roll the mixture into walnut-sized balls.
On a griddle pan, brown the balls quickly - it's all about colouring them and not cooking them through ... five minutes total cooking time with about three turns on the griddle.
To make the sauce, heat the olive oil in a heavy-bottomed pan and gently fry the crushed garlic. Tip in the chopped tomatoes and harissa and simmer for 25-30 minutes, until the sauce has reduced. Put in the meatballs and continue to simmer for a further 20 minutes with a lid on until the sauce looks about right.
Lastly, stir in the herbs and have a final seasoning check.

When I get a craving for curry, there’s no stopping me until I’ve made one. And this one was great, zingy and powerful, with a creamy finish. Brilliant yellow and bursting with freshness.

Lamb madras (based on Allegra McEvedy’s Leon Gobi recipe):

500g lamb shoulder, diced

1 onion, sliced

1 carrot, sliced

2 thumb-sized pieces of ginger, peeled

5 cloves garlic, peeled

1 large teaspoon Madras curry powder

1 teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon black onion seeds

4 heaped tablespoons ground almonds

400ml coconut milk

Juice of ½ a lemon

Handful of coriander, chopped

Fry the lamb all over in a large casserole until browned. Remove to one side for now.

In the same pan, add a little more oil and fry the onion and carrot with lid on gently for 20 minutes until softened. While this is going on whizz up the garlic and ginger to a paste, then add this to the pan with a big pinch of salt.

Stir fry for a minute or two and add the curry powder, turmeric, black onion seeds and almonds. Fry for another minute, add the lamb back and pour over the coconut milk. Bring to the boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook with the lid on for another hour and a half, or until the lamb is tender.

When the lamb is cooked, add lemon juice, adjust the seasoning and top with coriander.