A fusion of Flavours

Eat Up New Zealand: The Bach Edition by Al Brown is a revised edition of Al’s iconic book Eat Up New Zealand. This book includes more than 150 delicious recipes especially aimed at easy bach living.

Meatballs with spiced tomato lentils is my current go-to brunch dish. I had something similar when visiting Melbourne a while back. This dish certainly doesn’t scream Australia, but like New Zealand, the Aussies have a melding of cultures and cuisines brought about by positive immigration policies, with one of the big bonuses for the nation being the introduction of new flavours and food ideas.

Serves 12

INGREDIENTS

SPICED TOMATO RAGOUT

½ cup (125ml/4 fl oz) canola oil or similar cooking oil

1 tablespoon yellow mustard seeds

1 tablespoon black mustard seeds

1 tablespoon cumin seeds, toasted and ground

1 tablespoon coriander seeds, toasted and ground

12 cardamom pods

1 teaspoon ground turmeric

½ teaspoon dried chilli flakes

6 stems curry leaves

500g (1lb 2oz) onion, finely diced

300g (10½oz) ginger, finely chopped

300g (10½oz) garlic cloves, finely chopped

4 x 400g tins whole peeled tomatoes, blitzed to a purée

1 cup (250ml/9 fl oz) chicken stock

⅓ cup (90g/3¼oz) tomato paste

1½ tablespoons sugar

LENTILS

1½ cups (250g/9 oz/11) green lentils, such as Puy lentils

2 cups (1 litre/35 fl oz) chicken stock

1 teaspoon flaky sea salt

MEATBALLS

500g (1lb 2oz) lamb mince

500g (1lb 2oz) beef mince

500g (1lb 2oz) pork mince

250g (9oz) onion, finely chopped

1 tablespoon finely chopped garlic

⅓ cup (10g/¼oz) finely chopped parsley

⅓ cup (10g/¼oz) finely chopped coriander leaves

1 egg, beaten

½ cup (30g/1oz) panko breadcrumbs or other dried breadcrumbs

1 tablespoon flaky sea salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

TO COOK AND SERVE

Canola oil, for frying

12 eggs

Thick natural yoghurt

Coriander leaves

Turmeric oil (optional)

Fried curry leaves (optional)

Shallot crunchies (optional)

Roasted slivered almonds (optional)

Toast bread, flat bread or roti

METHOD

1. First, make the ragout. Place a large, preferably heavy-bottomed saucepan over a medium-low heat. Pour in the oil and, once hot, add all the spices — including the curry leaves. With a wooden spoon, stir about for a minute or two, then add the onion, ginger and garlic. Sweat gently over low heat for 10 minutes, stirring all the time to prevent the spices from sticking. Add the tomatoes, stock, tomato paste and sugar. Turn up the heat, bring up to the boil then lower the heat to a simmer and cook for 30 minutes — stirring occasionally. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Remove from the heat and

let cool before refrigerating until required.

2. Place the lentils in a saucepan with the stock and the salt. Bring up to a boil over a high heat, then drop the heat down to a rolling boil. Check the lentils after 20 or so minutes. They are ready when they are soft — but not mushy and falling apart. Once you are happy with them, drain and let cool. Add the lentils to the spiced tomato ragout.

3. To make the meatballs, place all the ingredients in a bowl and mix thoroughly with clean hands until combined. Roll into the size meatball that you prefer. If you roll them to about 25g (1oz) each, you’ll end up with approximately 60 small meatballs. Refrigerate what you think you’ll require and freeze the rest.

4. Preheat your oven to 180°C. Place a large ovenproof frying pan over medium-high heat. Once hot, pour in a little canola oil, then add the meatballs. Cook for 2 minutes on either side until caramelised. Now spoon in and around the meatballs liberal amounts of the spiced tomato ragout. Crack the eggs on top of the ragout, then place the pan into the preheated oven and cook for about 6–7 minutes until the eggs are just cooked, but ensure the yolks are still runny.

5. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly. Add dollops of natural yoghurt and sprinkle about the coriander leaves. For texture and flavour, add any combination of the optional garnishes listed. Serve with a pile of toast, flat bread or roti.

Recipes extracted from Eat Up New Zealand: The Bach Edition by Al Brown, photography by Josh Griggs, published by Allen & Unwin NZ, RRP $49.99.