Morrocan Kefta Mkaouara (Spicy Egg, Meatball and Tomato Tagine)



A while ago, I spotted this North African dish on a great blog Almost Bourdain. I bookmarked the recipe and added it to my ever growing list of “to- dos”. 
The recipe is from Rick Stein's Mediterranean escapes book. He visited Chefchaouen, a town in northwest Morocco where this flavorful tagine is the local staple. 
Moroccan cuisine is popular for its tagines. There are a lot of recipes for tagines using all kinds of meat, vegetables and copious amounts of spices to kick up the rich stews. I was particularly drawn to this recipe because I love kefta and this puts a different spin on my usual Lebanese kefta dishes. The kefta meatballs are served in a rich flavored tomato sauce, in which eggs are poached in the final few minutes of cooking.
It is a really simple recipe that doesn’t require a tagine to make, as I don’t have one. 
I served this with pitta bread and thought it was fantastic!!


Ingredients (serves 4):
3 tbsp olive oil
4 very fresh medium-size free-range eggs
a small handful fresh coriander leaves, coarsely chopped, to garnish
salt and freshly ground black pepper

For the meatballs:
450 g minced beef or lamb
2 tbsp finely chopped parsley
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp hot paprika

For the sauce:
1 medium onion, finely chopped
900 g ripe tomatoes, skinned, seeded and chopped or 2 x 400-g cans chopped tomatoes
1 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp hot paprika
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
2 garlic cloves, crushed

Preheat the oven to 400ºF (200ºC).
For the meatballs, put the minced beef, parsley, cumin, paprika, 1 tsp salt and some freshly ground black pepper into a bowl and mix together well using your hands. Dampen your hands and from the mixture into about 28 2.5-cm balls.

Heat 2 tbsp of the oil in a shallow tagine or frying pan and brown the meatballs briefly on all sides. Remove with a slotted spoon to a plate and set to one side.

Add the onion for the sauce to the pan with the remaining tablespoon of oil and cook gently for 10 minutes until very soft and just beginning to brown. Add the remaining sauce ingredients and leave to simmer gently for 15-20 minutes until well concentrated in flavour but not too thick. Season well with salt to taste.

Return the meatballs to the sauce and mix together. Transfer to a shallow ovenproof dish if you have prepared the sauce in a frying pan, otherwise leave the mixture in the tagine. Make 4 slight dips in the mixture and break an egg into each one.

Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or until the eggs are just set. Scatter with the chopped coriander and serve. 



Kefta mkaouara (Tagine de kefta aux œufs)

Ingrédients (4 personnes):
3 càs d'huil d'olive
4 œufs
une poignée de coriandre, hachée pour la décoration
sel et poivre

Pour les bouletts:
450 g de viande hachée (bœuf ou agneau)
2 càs de persil, haché
1 càc de cumin
1/2 càc de paprika

Pour la sauce:
1 oignon, finement haché
900 g de tomates mûres, pelées, épépinées et coupées en dés ou 2 boites de 400g de tomates concassées
1 càc de cumin
1/2 càc de paprika
1 càc de poivre noir
2 gousses d'ail, écrasées

Préchauffez le four à 200ºC. 
Pour les boulettes de viande, mettez la viande hachée, le persil, le cumin, le paprika, 1 càc de sel et du poivre noir fraîchement moulu dans un bol et bien mélangez avec les mains. Mouillez vos mains et  façonnez environ 28 boulettes de 2,5 cm.

Faites chauffer 2 càs d'huile dans un tajine ou à la poêle et faites dorer les boulettes de viande. Retirez-les et réservez.


Faites revenir l'oignon haché dans la même poêle avec la cuillère à soupe d'huile restante environ 10 mn. Ajoutez le reste des ingrédients de la sauce et laissez mijoter pendant 15-20 minutes jusqu'à ce que la sauce soit bien concentrée mais pas trop épaisse. Assaisonnez avec du sel selon votre goût.


Ajoutez les boulettes de viande à la sauce et mélangez. Transférez dans un plat peu profond allant au four, si vous avez préparé la sauce dans une poêle, sinon laissez le mélange dans le tajine. Faites 4 petits trous et cassez-y un œuf dans chacun d'eux.


Enfournez pendant 15 minutes ou jusqu'à ce que les oeufs soient cuits. Parsemez de coriandre hachée et servez.

Comments

  1. Glad you made this dish and enjoyed it! It's a fantastic recipe and easy to make without a tagine :) Thanks for the shout out!

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  2. So colorful and appetizing! That tagine looks mighty scrumptious.

    Cheers,

    Rosa

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  3. I always order this, in a Moroccan restaurant, next to my home..Chez Bebert, but your version is 15672 times better !!!!!
    Thanks for the recipe

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  4. I love the way this looks and sounds. The recipe is outstanding. I hope you are having a great day. Blessings...Mary

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  5. Man, this is making my mouth water. When I saw the first picture I thought this meatballs is to be had with raw eggs, but that is not the case.Not a big fan of raw eggs.
    Baked eggs and meatballs look fabulous!

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  6. I'm bookmarking this to make it sometime soon! Gorgeous and so unusual.

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  7. This dish reminds me of bayd wbanadoora, which is one of my favorites; with the Moroccan spices and the kafta, even better! To try .

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  8. Oh, I also bookmarked this when I saw it at Ellies....still haven't made it, even though I have the lamb mince purchased and waiting......it looks delicious

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  9. I love the colours, the warm spices and your pics are very inviting. Mission accomplished - I'm hungry!

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  10. The ingredients sound fabulous and judging from the photos, it would be quite hearty. What a lovely dish.

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  11. This is just a beautiful dish! A tagine is on my next kitchen purchase list, and I have this recipe bookmarked as the first one to make with it.

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  12. A beautiful and delicious dish! I would so love to try this!

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  13. Yum, love the flavours of this dish and I can imagine it with pasta or rice.

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  14. The eggs look so great in this! And, the sauce sounds fantastic.

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  15. AMAZING! I am loving this recipe.

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  16. Cherine, what a interesting and savory dish with egg...I already can tell you that I'll like this dish...the color the flavor...everything :-) YUMMIE!

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  17. Beautiful and scrumptious and healthy too!! Love this creative dish. :-)

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  18. Oh Cherine, this is a gorgeous meal! It's just the kind of thing I always crave, but never make...what's wrong with me?! I WILL be making this for sure!

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  19. That looks really lovely and very unusual (with the eggs on top especially).

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  20. That looks just incredible tasty and delicious.
    Well done, Bravissimo !!!
    We would have used Tunisian Harissa paste for a spicy pepp.

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  21. Ce tajine est un de mes préférés!
    Le tiens à l'air très bon!!

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  22. j'adore! nous le cuisinons régulièrement et c'estu n plat dotn je ne me lasse pas! tesp hotos sont tjrs aussi belles!

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  23. I love Morracan food, unfortunately I haven't tried enough dishes. Really liking the looks and ingredients in your recipe.

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  24. So glad I found your blog! My husband and I are big fans of Lebanese food!

    I made this dish tonight and it was delicious. I'm surprised by how EASY it was to make!

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  25. It looks super delicious. I love your dish - such a lovely combination of delicate and rustic.

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  26. That tagine looks and sounds fantastic!

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  27. Thank you very much for your visit!

    I have been looking over your blog and see so many wonderful recipes and travel photos. I truly enjoy learning about the cuisine of other countries.

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  28. I love kefta too. What a great way to put a new spin on it!

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  29. I love the simple list of ingredients and spices used here, and this is a great use for eggs. Can't wait to try it!

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  30. Very very droolworthy! Looks so rich.

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  31. So beautiful and appetizing! That tagine looks delicious delightful.

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  32. This looks wonderful and easy.

    We will definitely try this sometime.

    Looks like a cozy dish for the cold nights coming up.

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  33. Your recipes are always extraordinary and this one is no different! It's the reason I keep coming back to your blog - thanks. :-)

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  34. I actually had this (or at least something very similar) while traveling through Chefchaouen; you've inspired me to try this recipe!! And go through some old pictures.. :)

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  35. I want to make this recipe for morrocan kefta mkaourara with spicy egg this week, but I am wondering if you could give me some suggestions about what to serve it with? Over pasta?

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  36. Hello jolene,
    Basically it is served with pita bread but you can serve it with rice!
    Let me know how it turns.
    Cherine

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  37. Impressed by Rick Stein's video

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYKqUGdc7rc

    and with the help of my kind Moroccan colleague I am the proud owner of a Tagine.

    http://www.corbisimages.com/images/67/4D61D432-5E1F-4D1E-B153-51D8BC734868/42-15594337.jpg

    The traditional cookwear that Moroccan's use for this recipe. Thank you Chicho!

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  38. I'm finally getting around to cooking this recipe this week (been on my list since you posted it). Looks so good!

    I was wondering though, if you use canned tomatoes do you keep the sauce? I would think not since you wouldn't have it if doing fresh tomatoes, but I'm confused how it becomes a sauce texture otherwise.

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  39. Hi Becca, yes you keep the sauce if you are using canned tomatoes, then when the sauce will simmer for about 20 mn it will be well concentrated but not too thick.

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  40. What a beautiful dish! The photos a great as well, lovely :)

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