Vegetarian Feta Meatballs

Ingredients

• 2 onions
• 4 Garlic cloves
• 250 g chickpeas (drained weight; canned)
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 250 g cooked white rice
• 70 g raisins
• 1 egg
• Salt
• Pepper
• 1 tsp Ras el-Hanout
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 red chili pepper
• 2 tbsp tomato paste (15 g each)
• 400 g diced tomatoes (canned)
• harissa (to taste)
• 4 tbsp rapeseed oil
• 120 g feta (45% fat in whole milk)
• 50 g pistachio nuts
• 1 handful Coriander

Instructions

1. 1.

   For the meatballs, peel and finely dice 1 onion and 2 garlic cloves. Rinse chickpeas, drain them and chop ¼ of them. In a pot heat 1 tbsp olive oil. Sauté onion and garlic for 3 minutes over medium heat.

2. 2.

   Add rice, raisins, chopped chickpeas, egg, salt, pepper, Ras el-Hanout and 1 tsp cumin. Blend the remaining chickpeas with 1–2 tbsp water until smooth and stir into the rice mixture. Taste the dough and refrigerate for about 20 minutes.

3. 3.

   Meanwhile, peel and finely dice the remaining onion and garlic. Clean, wash and finely chop the chili pepper.

4. 4.

   Add the remaining olive oil to a hot pan. Sauté onion, garlic and chili for about 5 minutes over medium heat. Sprinkle with the rest of the cumin, stir in tomato paste and cook everything for another 1–2 minutes while stirring. Add tomatoes, season with salt, pepper and harissa to taste, and simmer gently for 25–30 minutes.

5. 5.

   Using damp hands, shape 12–16 meatballs about 2.5 cm wide from the rice mixture. Heat rapeseed oil in a large pan. Brown the meatballs on all sides for 5 minutes over medium heat. Remove them and drain on kitchen paper.

6. 6.

   Serve the sauce in bowls or shallow plates. Arrange the meatballs on top, crumble feta over them, sprinkle with pistachios, wash coriander, pat dry, roughly tear it and scatter over the dish before serving.