Meatball, Lentil and Cabbage Hotpot : Warming on Cooler Days

This comforting, warming and tasty hotpot recipe comes from 'Sainsbury's' so uses a lot of their own items. It is simple to create, because it uses their own ready-made meatballs. However, as with most recipes, little tweaks and subtle changes can be made to better suit you ... i.e. you may prefer to make your own meatballs, and sauce - or use a different brand!

Ingredients
Serves Four
1 tbsp oil
560 g ready-made beef meatballs with tomato sauce and Parmesan
1 onion, finely chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 tsp smoked paprika, plus an extra pinch to garnish
390 g carton chopped tomatoes with basil and oregano
500 ml beef stock
120 g dried green lentils
14 g fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped, plus extra to garnish
0.25 Savoy cabbage, shredded
1 courgette (zucchini), trimmed, halved horizontally, and cut into crescents
4 tsp 50% (less fat) crème fraîche

Method
1. Heat the oil in a large pan over a medium heat. Add the meatballs and cook for 10 minutes, turning, until brown all over. Remove from the pan and set aside.
2. Add the onion, garlic and paprika to the pan and cook for 5 minutes, until the onion is soft. Return the meatballs to the pan with the tomatoes, stock, lentils and sachets of sauce and Parmesan from the meatball pack. Turn up the heat and boil for 10 minutes. Reduce the heat and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes, until the lentils are tender.
3. Stir in the parsley, cabbage and courgette, and cook for 10 minutes. Serve with the crème fraîche sprinkled with the extra paprika and a scattering of parsley.

Sit down and enjoy.

Meals like this really lend themselves to the white bowl type serving dish as seen in the picture above.

This makes a great Friday night ... end of week dish. Or indeed you may prefer to make and enjoy it over the weekend. The choice as ever, dear reader, is yours.

Each serving provides
23.2g carbohydrate 6.3g fibre 35.4g protein 25.5g Fat
Original recipe idea can be seen here
If you would like a recipe for meatless meatballs see here

~enjoy your January days ~

This blog brings a variety of articles, studies etc. plus recent news/views and recipe ideas, something for everyone to read and enjoy. Please note, not all recipes may be suitable for you. If you may have any food allergies, or underlying health issues these must always be taken into account. If you are a diabetic and not sure how certain foods may affect your blood sugars, test is best, i.e. use your meter. If you have any concerns about your health, it is always advisable to consult your doctor or health care team.

All the best Jan