Meatball Soup with Lovage

I saw this on The Peoples Cookbook earlier this week and decided I just had to give it a try. Although I had to wait three days for a packet of lovage from my favourite veg shop, I still attempted it.
Servings: 6-8
Level of difficulty: Easy
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cooking Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
Ingredients
For the meatballs
1 tbsp Olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
450g lean minced beef
small bunch Lovage, finely chopped
2 tbsp ground rice
1 egg
5-6 drops Tabasco
For the soup
2 tbsp Olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 large carrot, finely chopped
1 celery stick, finely chopped
1.5 litre water
3 tbsp tomato puree
2 beef stock cubes
100ml white wine vinegar
1 tsp granulated sugar
small bunch Lovage, leaves only, roughly chopped
Method

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Lamb Cutlets on a Spiced Vegetable Broth

(Serves four)

12 lean lamb cutlets
125g soaked soup mix (red split lentils, green split lentils, pearl barley and marrowfat peas)
1 white onion

2 sticks celery
2 med potatoes
1 eggplant (aubergine)
2 carrots
1 red pepper
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cumin
2 cloves crushed garlic
salt
freshly ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 180o
Cook the cutlets for 15 minutes

Meanwhile...

Dice the vegetables small
Fry onion till soft and add the spices
Add the vegetables and sweat for 5 minutes
Add soup mix and stock, bring to the boil
Simmer for 20 minutes
Season to taste
Plate up and arrange 3 cutlets on top of each dish
I added a sprig of fresh coriander for extra colour

My Meatballs

Ingredients

1 cup breadcrumbs
1 cup parmesan cheese
1lb lean minced beef
mixed herbs
garlic
1/2 cup water
salt and pepper to taste



For the sauce

• 2 tins chopped tomatoes
• small tin tomato paste
• garlic
• 1/2 chopped onion
• 1 tsp oregano
• salt and pepper to taste
• Mix ingredients together, slowly adding the water
• Mould the mixture into meatballs
• Brown the balls on each side and simmer in the sauce for 20 minutes
• Add to pasta (I used fresh penne)
• Top with parmesan

Menu Planner Monday

My Menu Planner is so easy this week. Because we’re going away on Wednesday night/Thursday morning, I only have half a week to plan. Chef’s brother (also a chef) is minding the children, with his fiancee for the first couple of days, so good healthy meals guaranteed there! Then Chefs two sisters are coming to stay, they are pasta fans, so are my children. Sorted.
Monday~ Pasta Carbonara or leftover lamb casserole
(Us, Lamb Balti and basmati rice)
Tuesday~Sausage, mash and green beans
(us, not sure yet)
Wednesday~Scrambled eggs, potato waffles, peas and sweetcorn
(us, not a clue!)

Thanks for dropping in, have a look around!

Roasted Vegetable Jumble

This pic looks much tastier if you click on it to enlarge!

• 1 aubergine
• 2 courgettes
• 1 butternut squash
• 3 sticks celery
• 4 large garlic cloves
• 2 large potatoes
• 6 cherry tomatoes
• 2 red onions
• few snub carrots
• 2 sweet potatoes
• sprigs of rosemary
• seasalt
• freshly ground black pepper

Directions

Prepare vegetables to bite-size pieces

Drizzle with GOOD oil

Add rosemary sprigs

Season

Roast for 45 minutes

Menu Planner

Whilst cleaning the freezer last night, I couldn’t believe how many fishy stuff I had in there, so this week the children will be stuffed to the ‘gills’ (hehe) with a few fish dishes.
In no particular order, here’s the menu for this week. Myself and Chef will be having more grown up food!

• Cod fillets with sweetcorn and boiled potatoes
• Vegetable fingers with peas and fresh mashed potatoes
• Chicken and sweetcorn lattice with basmati rice and green beans
• Fish fingers in batter with jumbo wedges and cauliflower
• Whiting with garlic sauce and steamed vegetables
• Fried/scrambled eggs, potato waffles and baked beans
• Roast lamb with roasted potatoes, carrot and swede mash, Brussels sprouts, Yorkshire pudding and the worlds best gravy for all of us.

More menu planners here