Turkey rissoles with chilli, garlic and ginger
These rissoles are a crowd pleaser, whether for a family mid-week dinner or a weekend barbecue. If you’re entertaining, you can make them smaller to serve on cocktail sticks as a canapé, perhaps with a bowl of sweet chilli sauce for dipping. For a family meal, I like to serve them with baked sweet potato chips and a salad of whatever veggies I have in my fridge. SERVES 4 TIME 20 MINUTES DAIRY- GLUTEN- AND NUT-FREE 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil ¼ red onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed or finely chopped
1 tablespoon finely grated ginger 1 red chilli, finely chopped
500g lean minced (ground) turkey handful flat-leaf (Italian) parsley (or coriander), leaves picked and finely chopped
¼ teaspoon iodised salt freshly ground black pepper Heat 2 teaspoons of the extra virgin olive oil in a small frying pan over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté for a few minutes until translucent, taking care not to let it burn. Add the garlic, ginger and chilli, and sauté for a minute or so more.
Combine the mince, onion mixture, parsley, salt and plenty of black pepper in a mixing bowl. Use your hands to ensure an even mix of ingredients. Then divide the mixture into 8 pieces and mould each into a rissole shape – running cold water over your hands first helps to stop it sticking. Flatten each rissole slightly and set aside on a sheet of baking paper. At this stage, you can cook them straight away, or cover with plastic wrap and store in the fridge to cook within 24 hours, or you can freeze them for 4–6 months.
When ready to cook, heat a chargrill pan (this gives nice char lines on your rissoles), a frying pan or the barbecue to medium heat. Drizzle with the remaining oil, add the rissoles and cook for 2-3 minutes on each side or until cooked through. Be careful not to have the heat turned up too high or you’ll burn the outside of the rissole before the centre is cooked. If need be you can pop the lid over the pan to assist cooking if your rissoles are thicker.
Serve with a gorgeous big green salad along with baked sweet potato chips, boiled waxy potatoes or mashed cannellini beans.