Page title and description

Meatballs with black kale and pearled barley
Beef
Meatballs with black kale and pearled barley
Ingredients
- 3 onions, finely diced
- 4 garlic cloves, finely diced
- olive oil
- 2 white pitta bread, broken into pieces and soaked in milk
- ½ tsp salt
- pinch ground pepper
- pinch chilli
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- 500g beef mince
- 250g pearled barley or spelt
- 300g cavolo nero, any kale or purple sprouting broccoli
- 500ml chicken stock
- 300ml passata
- 4 tbsp breadcrumbs
- 2 tbsp Parmesan, grated
- 2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
Method
Prep time:
20 min
PT20M
Cooking time:
1h
PT1H
-
Step 1
First make the meatballs. Sauté the onion and garlic until it is beginning to soften. Squeeze any excess milk out of the pitta bread and blitz quickly in a food processor. -
Step 2
Add the salt, pepper, chilli, cumin and a third of the onion/ garlic mixture and pulse briefly. Add the beef mince and pulse a few times until it looks well mixed. Don't over blend, as this can make it go rubbery. Form into balls about 3cm in diameter. -
Step 3
Boil the pearled barley in plenty of water until nearly al dente (about 10 minutes). Drain. -
Step 4
Cut the kale or PSB into pieces 6-8cm long and blanch in boiling water for 2 minutes. Drain. -
Step 5
Heat a large ovenproof frying pan, add a tablespoon of oil and quickly brown the meatballs. It doesn't matter if they break up a bit. -
Step 6
Add the rest of the onions and garlic, the cooked pearled barley, kale, stock and pasata and mix together the best you can. -
Step 7
Cover with a lid (if you have one that fits), plate or foil, and cook gently for 30 minutes. -
Step 8
Preheat oven to 200°C/Gas 6, remove the lid and sprinkle the breadcrumbs, parsley and Parmesan over the top. -
Step 9
Tamp down with the back of a wooden spoon and bake in the oven until it begins to brown on top.