Lentil, ras-el hangout & date ‘meatballs’ with olive salsa recipe | Good Food

Lentil, ras-el hanout & date ‘meatballs’ with olive salsa and couscous

1 lemon
zested and juiced
50g green olives
pitted and roughly chopped
1 large on-the-vine tomato
roughly chopped
25g parsley
finely chopped
3 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves
crushed
90g porridge oats
3 medjool dates
destoned and roughly chopped
1 tbsp ras el hanout
2 x 400g cans cooked green lentils
rinsed and drained
50g feta
crumbled
jewelled couscous
to serve

Method

step 1
Combine 1 tbsp of the lemon juice, olives, tomato, half the parsley and 1 tbsp of the oil in a small bowl. Season to taste and set aside.
step 2
For the meatballs, tip the garlic, oats, dates, ras el hanout, lemon zest and remaining parsley into a food processor and blitz until well combined. Tip in the lentils and pulse a few times until fully combined – the lentils don’t have to be completely broken up. Season the mixture with a big pinch of salt and pepper and stir in the feta. Wet your hands and form the mixture into 25 small balls, around the size of ping pong balls. Set aside on a plate.
step 3
Heat the remaining oil in a frying pan over a medium-high heat. Add the balls to the pan and brown all over, around 10-12 mins, turning them with a spoon rather than shuffling the pan as they will be fragile. Serve over the couscous with the olive salsa spooned on top.