Pork, Almond and Cranberry Meatballs with Roasted Vegetables

This meal is an evolution of a meatball idea that has been circulating through my head, looking for context. Finally, I found it. A deliciously light pork meatball salad with fruity and nutty flavours. Wonderful to look at and so tasty you'll want to keep coming back for more!

Ingredients (for 4)

For the Meatballs

500g Pork Mince (go for a 15-20% fat mix if available)

1/2 Cup of Almonds, roughly chopped

1/2 Cup of Unsweetened Cranberries, finely chopped

2 Teaspoons of Dried Sage

1 Bunch of Chives, finely chopped

1/2 Cup Breadcrumbs

1/4 Cup of Whole milk

1 Oxo Cube of Chicken Stock, crushed into a powder

5 Cloves of garlic, peeled and finely minced

2 Eggs

Sea Salt Flakes

Pepper

Olive oil

For the Salad

A Punnet of Blackberries

A Bag of Radishes halved (about 400g)

2 Medium Orange Kumara, peeled and diced into 2cm chunks

300g Button Mushrooms

Spinach Leaves

Almonds

Orange Capsicum

2 Teaspoons Dried Marjoram

Sea Salt Flakes

Pepper

Lemon Juice

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Method

Preheat the oven to 10 C.

In a frying pan with a little oil, soften the garlic on a medium-low heat. Soften, not brown so you don't get that acrid burnt taste. Once down, turn off the heat and allow to cool.

In a large mixing bowl, put in the breadcrumbs, then soak them in the milk. Mix it around to make sure they're fully wet, then add the pork mince along with everything else (including the softened garlic and it's oil), salt and pepper. Add two to three pinches of salt and a blizzard of pepper. Mix it all together very well. I go with the ball and squeeze method. Form it in to a ball, then squeeze it out.

Oil your hands, then form them into balls about the size of a squash ball. Oil your hands every 5-6 meatballs so they keep a smooth surface.

Put them into an oiled roasting tray, ready for cooking.

Get a pot of water boiling. Salt the water, then blanch the kumara for 2 minutes. Drain, then toss the kumara in olive oil and marjoram along with the radishes and button mushrooms. Transfer to an oiled roasting tray (not the pork tray).

Salt lightly, then bang it in the oven for 40 minutes, near the top of the oven. Halfway through, move them to the lowest rack, increase the heat to 200 C, then put the meatballs in for the remaining twenty minutes.

While thats cooking, burn the skin of your orange capsicum on the hob. Once it's decently blacken, rub the skin off under running water. Don't worry if there is a bit of black left on it. Dice it up.

Once everything is done, pull the kumara/radishes/mushrooms out and check on the meatballs. They should be just done. (if not just go a bit longer)

Serve everything up with balance. A few leaves of spinach, dot that with radish, kumara, mushrooms and meatballs. Decorate with whole almonds, capsicum and blackberries. Salt and pepper, maybe a touch of lemon juice, then dig into this refreshing meal.

Enjoy!