This is one of my favorite recipes I have ever made. It’s the perfect weeknight meal to leave you with enough leftovers for lunch or dinner the next day. A meal like this is comparable to a Cava bowl, but better because you’re in control to add more or less harissa, veggies, or cheese! The key ingredient in this recipe is my homemade harissa paste curated from Mendocino Spices and Pepitos Chilitos dried chiles, which you’ll be using beyond dinner meals.
Ingredients
1/4 cup + 2 tbsp harissa paste
1 large egg
1/2 cup panko
6 oz feta
2/3 cup chopped parsley
1/4 cup + 1 tbsp olive oil
3 cloves garlic minced
1 tsp Mendocino Spices all-purpose seasoning
1 lb ground turkey
1 pint of cherry tomatoes
1 can of chickpeas
– Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
– Using a fork, stir 1 egg, panko, 4 oz feta, 1/4 cup of harissa, half of the parsley, and 2 tbsp olive oil in a large bowl until egg is blended, and the mixture looks thoroughly combined.
– Add garlic and ground turkey and mix with clean hands until turkey is totally homogenous with panko mixture.
– Rinse tomatoes and chickpeas and pour into the center of a large baking sheet lined with aluminum foil.
– Add 1 tbsp of olive oil and the remaining two tbsp of harissa and season to your liking with Mendocino Spices all-purpose seasoning. Using your hands or a small spatula massage the chickpeas and tomatoes until they’re evenly coated with harissa.
– Using a ice cream scooper or your hands, roll turkey mixture gently and loosely between your palms to form a meatball about the size of a golf ball. Tuck them in and around the chickpeas and tomatoes spacing them evenly apart.
– Bake meatballs on the very top rack for 13-15 minutes. Meanwhile, mix 2 oz and the rest of the parsley together. Add a splash of EVOO if desired.
– Turn on broiler and caramelize meatballs for 2-4 more minutes, rotating baking sheet at least once. Enjoy over a bed of rice or quinoa!
