Cook Book Club: September

Even though there isn’t a Cook Book Club theme this week as our host is away, I thought I would do one anyway as I was delighted to get a copy of Ottolenghi’s Simple Too. I have used Simple a lot, and was looking forward to some more ideas to try out. I love the cover, with the two lemons. If you know the cover of Simple, you will also get it. As you can see, I have already bookmarked lots of things to try. First on the list were these chicken meatballs I made on Sunday.

Heat the oven to 210C fan. Mix together 500g chicken mince, 1 medium sized grated parsnip, 1 small grated onion, a bunch of finely chopped coriander, 1 crushed garlic clove, 1 egg, 1 teaspoon each of ground cumin and coriander, 40g of panko breadcrumbs, salt and pepper and 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Shape into 16 meatballs and arrange them in a baking dish so they fit snuggly together, drizzle over some olive oil and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven, and using a spatula, roll the meatballs around a bit. Drizzle over one tablespoon of pomegranate molasses and bake for a further 5 minutes. Try and get them brown all over.

I served them with a simple green salad and couscous with mint and coriander. The meatballs were nice and moist and very flavourful, and the South African wine was a good accompaniment. We had the leftovers on Monday, with a yoghurt-mint-lemon dipping sauce which worked well.

Verdict? Very good, tasty and easy to make.

Make again? Yes.

Next cook book challenge is scheduled for 28 October 2026 with the theme of salads.

Thistles and Kiwis is a Wellington, New Zealand based blog written by Barbara, who likes cats, summer and good food. Thistles and Kiwis can be found on Facebook and Instagram @thistlesandkiwis