Our Lamb Moroccan meatloaf
It’s always a cool moment when you realise that you have raised a child to be a self sufficient human being. Job done. When I got home from my trip to Penang, the dog looked bright eyed and bushy tailed, some washing had been done, the house was in one piece and furthermore the cat was alive and still curled up asleep on Skaters bed.
I don’t seem to have done too much harm to Skater even though I haven’t always been such an award winning parent. When he was less than 10, and in primary school, his favourite friends were triplets. The two boys and a girl, lived in a house just outside the school gates with their parents who were attentive. For a working mother this was quite satisfactory and they were just about the best friends he could have. He spent a lot of time at their house but occasionally they would all come over to our house where I would ply them with food. Chocolate pudding with chocolate sauce and chocolate icecream always went down well. On these occasions I took the liberty of ingesting a little Mummies Juice (this is what a glass of wine was always known as in our house especially at homework time). I didn’t have to leave the house to go pick up my child from the triplet’s house, so I relaxed a bit…..
Mixing the mince
Well, almost. The kids had so much energy (chocolate?) and I thought I should crank up the entertainment. ( I’m not competitive but you do want kids to like your house and your kid- don’t you?). We decided it was high time for a bit of dancing ( I think we all decided that). We put on a bit of music and concluded that plain old dancing was just a bit boring. So it was that we were dancing around in the lounge room around past the chairs and the coffee table with the lights flashing on and off in great disco style. When the lights stayed on everyone had to be a statue. It was great fun, we ran through all the great ‘N Sync’ hits and had moved onto Thriller by Michael Jackson when Nina got pushed over by one of her brothers and cracked her lip open on the coffee table. My Lordy, did I suddenly feel sober. I had an hour to get her cleaned up and iced down before her Mother arrived. You can say what ever you like……but I didn’t always follow the parenting manual…in fact I think they forgot to give me one when I left hospital?
And so I digress. When I came home from being absent for 11 days, even though I was tired and had done nothing that resembled motherly duties for that time, I felt the need to nurture my son, who has grown into a wonderful responsible gentle soul. I made him this Moroccan Meatloaf that I tweaked to suit our ingredients from a recipe I saw posted on Claire K Creations. I doubled the recipe so that he could eat it the next day sliced and rewarmed on a bun with melted cheese. (Mother of the year).
Baked straight from the oven
Moroccan Lamb meatloaf
Moroccan Lamb Meatloaf
Ingredients
- 1 kg lamb mince
- 150 gm onion diced
- 1-2 cloves garlic crushed
- 2 teaspoons smoked paprika
- 2 tablespoons cumin ground
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 5 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup quinoa cooked cooled
- 1 cup carrot grated
- 2 teaspoons zatar or dukkah
- 40 ml olive oil
Instructions
- Set the oven to 180 C / 350 F. You will need a small loaf tin sprayed or oiled . Mix all of the ingredients except the zataar and the olive oil together in a big bowl.
- (Just a little secret. When mine is well mixed I take a little piece out and fry it in a fry pan to check if it has enough spice and flavour)
- Squash the meat loaf into the loaf tin (well oiled or spayed)and rub or sprinkle over the olive oil and the zatar. Cover with foil.
- Bake for approximately 60 minutes then remove the foil. Drain off some of the excess liquid that has gathered then bake a further 10 minutes uncovered, or until a skewer or knife inserted comes out very hot ( use a thermometer if you have one it needs to be around 80 C/ 170 F )
Stay tuned for the ultimate Food Tour of Penang………
Parental humiliation in Penang
LOVE the moroccan flavors in this meatloaf! So comforting 🙂
First I have to say that you had me laughing with the cat still being alive. But back to your meatloaf, it sounds delicious….love the moroccan flavors. 🙂
Exactly, a feast of flavors!
When will you adopt me???
That must taste really good! I love meatloaves, spices and Moroccan food.
Cheers,
Rosa
Thanks for the inspiration, Tania – I’m making this tonight! xx
It’s never good when someone else’s child is injured in your home! I think you sound very much like the coolest mum around! You were very brave leaving your son alone in the house – I could never trust my two with my dogs – they would forget to feed them! I love the look of your meatloaf – what a yummy dinner for Skater to come home to xx
Ha! You ARE a great parent – who else plays roadie for their kid? 🙂 Meatloaf looks wonderful, I haven’t made one in ages, so maybe I need to try this one. Thanks to both you and Claire! 🙂 xx
My husband loves ground meat dishes…this is a perfect dinner for him.
Yum Tania, love that you doubled the recipe, we’re only 3 people in this household but some days it feels like I cook for an army. Better to have more than less!
I think that’s the good thing about having a second child Tania, you can screw them up in all new ways from the first 🙂 Any mother who can make a meatloaf like that definitely deserves an award, and I bet Skater thinks so too xox
The flavours in the meatloaf look great and I like the addition of quinoa.
That pack(s) is enormous! Poor kid!
You deserve some sort of award for this dish, Tania. Not just because you prepared a great meatloaf but because you doubled the recipe just to make sure your son can have sandwiches the next day. That’s the only reason I make meatloaf, for the sandwiches the next day. For once, I think your meat loaf may change all that. Made with lamb and those Middle Eastern spices, I bet it’s delicious and something I want to try.
I suspect Skater is as proud of you as it’s possible to be. You’re clever, fun and you love that young man like nobody else. He’s your first priority and he knows it. 🙂
John doesn’t like meatloaf (he’s weird) but he LOVES Moroccan food. I’m going to make this.
Lovely ‘human’ story to which all of us can relate! A pretty great meatloaf also: am in a ‘good place’ – shopping Thursday: ‘hello’ lamb, and a big parcel of herbs and spices was just delievered five minutes ago: yes, fresh za’atar, smoked paprika et al in it 🙂 !
Wonderful flavors!
Oh yum what a beautiful looking recipe – and easy enough for me to put together on a weeknight! Thanks for sharing!
Glad you liked the meatloaf Tania! I thought it was mighty tasty. That sounds like heaps of fun. I bet the triplets liked when they got to visit your house.