Pork apple meatballs with quinoa crisped base and roasted bell peppers

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Serves 4





Prepare the meatballs:


Blitz the zest from 1 lemon, 1 slice of wholemeal bread, 2 tbsp parmesan, handful of fresh parsley / thyme, half a chopped sweet firm apple and 4 chopped anchovies. Add this to 450g pork mince, salt and pepper and use your hands to combine well into a firm ball. Put in the fridge whilst you prepare the quinoa crisp base and veg.





To make the quinoa crisp base:


Just cover 300g mixed quinoa in a saucepan with boiling water. Add a lid, bring to the boil, lower the heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Turn off the heat and just leave in the pan for now.





In a separate baking dish rinse and deseed 3 bell peppers and cut each into six pieces. Brush with oil.





Make 5 meatballs with the pork mixture. Using you hands shape the meatballs into equal sized balls and in each one make an indent in the middle and push 1tsp of mozzarella cheese into the centre then spread some of the mixture to enclose the cheese in the ball.

Crisp the meatballs in 1 tbsp hot oil both sides just browning them for 2 minutes each side. Place in a baking dish and add 100ml stock (I used the simple stock I made from a previous recipe Chicken and mushroom puff pastry pie; or use a shop bought product). Bake for 20 minutes in the top of a preheated 200C / 180fan oven along with the bell peppers in the middle of the oven. At the same time:

The quinoa will have absorbed all of the water by now. Add 1 egg and mix smoothly then spoon into 4 baking / serving dishes pressing evenly to cover the base and about half inch up the sides of the dish. Bake for 15 minutes in the bottom of the oven. Don’t overbake or it will really crisp up. Before serving it will be crisp on top with a springy texture. Serve with a meatball, peppers and some of the stock.
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