Iranian style lamb meatballs

Meatballs - Serves 6-8
Ingredients:
1kilo lamb mince
3 cloves garlic crushed
1 bunch coriander finely chopped
1 onion finely chopped
250g shelled pistachios
2 tablespoons sumac
2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 teaspoon turmeric

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These meatballs are divine, really light, packed full of flavour and go amazingly with Iranian steamed rice, roast potatoes coated in cumin and turmeric or even pitta breads....
To start make the tomato sauce, roughly cut up the tomatoes and place in a large pan with a good glug of oil, then add the garlic and cook for 10 minutes until the tomatoes are softened, then add the turmeric, cumin, cinnamon and honey, stir for a bit then add the passata. Add salt and pepper to taste and then allow to simmer for a good half an hour.

Meanwhile make the meatballs.
If you have a food processor blitz the nuts, coriander, garlic and onion together. If not finely chop everything. Then get a large bowl and add all the ingredients and some salt and mix thoroughly with your hands. Take your time with this and really mash everything together, so that the meat is quite smooth and paste like. Once everything is combined, roll into little balls.
Get a frying pan with some oil and fry off the meatballs in batches until the are browned on the outside. Remove from the heat.

At this point the meatballs can be added to the tomato sauce. When I made this I placed the meatballs in the sauce for a couple of hours without cooking further as I wanted the flavours to permeate. When you are ready to cook, turn on the heat and cook for about 30 minutes on a low simmering heat.

When ready to serve sprinkle the meatballs with chopped coriander and grated lemon zest.

For the tomato sauce:
6 large tomatoes
2 jars or cartons passata
2 whole bulbs garlic crushed
2 teaspoons turmeric
1 tablespoon honey
salt and pepper to taste
3 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon cinnamon
zest of two lemons