Lunch · 45 min · moroccan

Moroccan Sardine Balls

Sardines does the heavy lifting here, with onion rounding it out. A Moroccan lunch that takes 45 minutes, start to finish. At 584 calories and 47g protein per serving, it fits easily into a high-protein day. It scales cleanly if you are cooking for more than one.

✓ USDA-verified nutrition data

Ingredients

• 1.5 lb Sardines
• 1 Onion
• 0.5 cup Parsley
• 0.25 cup Cilantro
• 1.5 tsp Cumin
• 1 tsp Paprika
• 1 Eggs
• 0.25 cup Breadcrumbs
• 3 Tomatoes
• 3 cloves Garlic
• 0.25 cup Olive oil
• 1.5 tsp Salt

Steps

1. Clean the sardines — remove heads, backbones, and tails — and chop the fillets finely. Fresh sardines make this dish; frozen are a distant second.
2. Mix the sardines with grated onion, herbs, cumin, paprika, egg, breadcrumbs, and salt. The mixture should hold together when squeezed.
3. Roll into walnut-size balls with wet hands. They are delicate — handle them gently and chill 15 minutes to firm up.
4. Simmer the chopped tomatoes with garlic and olive oil into a sauce, then nestle the sardine balls in gently.
5. Cover and simmer 15 minutes, until the balls are cooked through and have absorbed the tomato flavor. Do not stir aggressively.
6. Serve hot with bread and lemon wedges. Casablanca street vendors sell these by the dozen — now you know why.

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