using up: peppers, mince

As I said in the spag bol post, I had about a pound of mince left over.  In fact, when we weighed it, it was 1lb 7oz!

Pete set to making the meatballs; he ground cumin, coriander, allspice, fennel seeds and cinnamon, finely chopped a shallot and some garlic, and mashed it all together.  It made 18 walnut-sized meatballs.  He left out salt, but we realised before it was too late.

In the meantime, I took two yellow and one orange pepper, all of which desperately needed using up.  I cut them in half longways, took out the seeds, and then sliced them very thinly, and then cut an onion in half, peeled it, and sliced that thinly too. Decanted them into a frying pan with some olive oil and started cooking them down.

I felt the needed … something, so I took the lids off lots of spice pots, but nothing seemed to work.  In the end, I went for five spice, just a few good pinches, and that was good.  I also added a gloop of balsamic vinegar towards the end.

The meatballs were popped in the slow cooker, and the onion/pepper mixture on the top. We didn’t fry them first, and I did wonder, but it didn’t seem to matter.  Cooked them for about 7 hours, and then turned it off, as it looked as though it might be drying out.

We ate ten of the meatballs for supper between us, with some fusilli – all a bit fusion, this, really.  They were utterly gorgeous.

And there are eight left, which I think may go in a wrap with some grilled halloumi.