These meatballs are amazingly juicy and the perfect way to sneak some extra veg into your life. Made with lean turkey and grated zucchini they’re perfect for dinner or as a shared starter/appetiser.

I am a huge fan of meatballs. I’ve even gone down the vegetarian meatball road on this site before. But I’ve also made them with pork in a more Asian style, or with beef in this Italian- Korean hybrid. So this time it’s turkey. I mean you could easily make them with chicken mince I just find turkey mince slightly ore flavoursome. It’s also a great source of lean protein.

Speaking of flavour, the chermoula sauce coating the meatballs is also what you use to flavour them, keeping everything a little simpler in the kitchen. PLus that’s why they’re green meatballsSometimes turkey has a tendency to get a little dry but by mixing the grated zucchini into it this is no longer a problem at all. I was actually worried for a moment that they’d be too juicy but then I realised that’s not a thing with meatballs and they’re perfect. Just make sure you grate the zucchini very finely so it mixes together really well.

I’m obsessed with the chermoula sauce at the moment too. It’s just so simple to make and so flavoursome. I think I’m going to have it over schnitzel soon too…

I love these as a great low carb dinner for when I want something a little lighter that still tastes like comfort food but you could totally do them as an entree or as a single serve appetiser. Serving them over hummus instead of the cauliflower puree would also be YUMMMM.

Serves 4 as a light main

Ingredients

500g turkey mince

1 zucchini (250-300g)

pinch of salt

Chermoula

1/2 bunch coriander, stalks included (well rinsed)

1/2 cup parsley

1 tsp toasted cumin seeds

1 tsp sweet paprika

1 pinch cayenne pepper

1/2 tsp turmeric, ground

3 cloves garlic

1/2 cup spring onion, roughly chopped

1 Tbs olive oil

3 Tbs water

pinch of salt

Juice and zest of 1 lemon

Cauliflower puree

1 large cauliflower

1 Tbs olive oil

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp white pepper

Directions

Place all the ingredients for the chermoula into a blender and process until a thick sauce forms.

Finely grate the zucchini. In a large bowl add the turkey mince, 1.5 Tbs chermoula and the grated zucchini along with a generous pinch of alt. Use your hands to mix together well. Form meatballs by pressing the mince together into ping pong sized balls. Set aside for 15 minutes in the fridge.

Meanwhile separate the cauliflower into florets and steam over a pot of boiling water for 15 minutes or until tender.

While the cauliflower is steaming cook the meatballs. Heat a little oil in a large fry pan on medium high heat. Once hot add the meatballs and cook until golden on each side. This should take a few minutes each side. They are very difficult to over cook as the zucchini makes them super juicy. Remove them from the pan and drizzle over 1 Tbs of the chermoula. Turn them to coat in the sauce, use more if you need to.

Put the cauliflower in a food processor and process until smooth. Add the olive oil and seasoning and process again.

Serve the meatballs over the cauliflower pureee and drizzle more chermoula over the top.

HH.x