As promised, here’s what I did with the second half of my lamb mince.
I absolutely love lamb kofte, they remind me of summer and barbecues and lovely spices and freshly baked pitta bread. I could go on forever.

They are so simple to make and there is absolutely no need to go to the kebab shop and spend a small fortune on greasy, unhealthy koftes!

I made these straight after making the meat loaf and we took them to work for lunch the next day, with a little side salad, the left-over yogurt dip and pitta bread. Delicious!

SERVES 2
PREPARATION < 10 mins
COOK 15 mins
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INGREDIENTS

For the kofte:

• 250g lean lamb mince
• handful of breadcrumbs
• handful of chopped parsley
• 1 small red onion, finely chopped
• 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
• 1tsp ground cumin
• 1 egg
• salt and pepper to season

For the salad:

• salad of your choice
• oilve oil
• juice of half a lemon
• salt and pepper to season

Pitta bread and left-over yoghurt dip (see here for recipe)

PREPARATION METHOD

1. Add all your kofte ingredients to a large bowl. Mix together thoroughly until all the ingredients are well combined (get your hands in there and knead away). Cover with cling film and set aside to rest for approximately 30 minutes. This will allow the breadcrumbs to soak up the moisture from the egg and meat and for the flavours to develop properly.
2. Pre-heat some olive oil in a pan. Shape oval shaped meatballs, approximately the size of half your palm (you know what kofte look like ;))
3. Fry the kofte for approximately 7 minutes on each side, turning occasionally, until brown and cooked thoroughly.
4. For the salad, mix the salad of your choice (I used lettuce, cucumber and tomatoes) with the lemon juice and olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
5. Serve with toasted pitta bread and the yoghurt dip.

Here you have your perfect lunch and you have just fed six people with one packet of minced meat. Enjoy!

Food shopping, particularly fresh meat and veg can be expensive. I try to organise my meals and shopping at the beginning of the week, allowing me to use one ingredient for a number of dishes. This is easily done by being a little creative with your ingredients, stocking up on spices, herbs and food that keeps (such as bulgar, couscous, rice, pearl barley, quinoa, lentils… the list is endless)

This one is the first of an ongoing series of recipes I want to share, which uses one ingredient for two meals and saves you lots of money ;)

The other week I made this lovely Morrocan Meatloaf for Sunday lunch. It’s a great twist on a traditional more boring recipe, stuffed with different flavours and super fragrant spices.

I served the loaf with oven roast veg, seeded pitta bread and a refreshing greek yoghurt & cucumber dip. This dish is ideal to take to a summer picnic and works beautifully in a sandwich or with a side salad or sweet potato wedges.

Happy Cooking!

SERVES 4
PREPARATION 20 mins
COOK 45 mins
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INGREDIENTS

For the Meat Loaf:

• 125g bulgar wheat (cooked to instructions. Make sure your bulgar isn’t soggy, otherwise your meatloaf won’t stick)
• zest of one orange (grated)
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 medium size carrots, coarsely grated
• 250g lean lamb mince (I bought a 500g packet and only used half, putting the other half aside for lunch the next day)
• 2tsp ground cinnamon
• 2tbsp pine nuts (these are expensive, so feel free to use chopped almonds or any other nut you fancy)
• 50g sultanas
• 2 eggs, beaten

For the roast veg:

• 5 red and yellow peppers, de-seeded and quartered
• 1 courgette, sliced length-ways
• olive oil
• sea salt and black pepper to season

For the yoghurt dip:

• 500g greek yogurt
• 1/2 cucumber finely diced
• extra virgin olive oil (don’t worry if you don’t have extra virgin olive oil, the regular one will do)
• 1/2tsp ground cumin
• salt and pepper to season

Toasted pitta bread to serve

PREPARATION METHOD:

1. Preheat the oven to 190˚C. Grease and line the base of a 12x22cm loaf tin.
2. Place the cooked bulgar into a large bowl, stir in the orange zest, onion, lamb, cinnamon, pine nuts and sultanas into the bulgar wheat. Add the beaten eggs, season with salt and pepper and mix well to combine.
3. Transfer the mixture to the loaf tin and press down very firmly with the back of a large spoon. Bake for 45 minutes until cooked through and browned.
4. Place your veg onto a baking tray, drizzle with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. After your meat loaf has been in the oven for 15 minutes, place your veg on the shelf underneath and cook for the remaining 30 minutes.
5. For the yoghurt dip, mix together all your ingredients in a bowl, stir thoroughly and drizzle with some extra olive oil. Chill until needed.
6. Turn out the meat loaf, leave to cool for approximately 10 minutes, slice and serve with the roast veg, toasted pitta bread and the yoghurt dip.

This dish goes really well with fresh mint tea or a light beer. Enjoy!

Meat Loaf recipe from waitrose.com and adapted by Toni.