Moroccan Beef Patties

I’m a sucker for recipes with a country name in them (Lebanese Lentils, Belgian Waffles, Portuguese Chicken) so it wasn’t even a question that I was going to try this out. Husband and I love to travel so it’s fun for me to bring in the flavors of the world into our home. I also want to try to expose little one to a plethora of flavors. I would like to avoid the diet of hot dogs and chicken nuggets (I say this with the naivety of a new mother) in little one's future.

This recipe is heavy on the spices but don’t let this scare you away. I see it as a great way to use the spices in my cabinet. Best of all, the spices work together well and aren't at all overwhellming. As usual I used ground turkey instead of ground beef. In the future I will more than likely bake these in the oven as opposed to cooking them on the stove. Mainly because serving turkey patties medium rare isn’t a good idea and the oven makes it easier to cook to well done with out filling your kitchen with lingering smoke. The patties were great torn up and mixed in with the couscous. These were so yummy it was a little tough to make sure there were leftovers for the next day.

Salt

1½ cups couscous

Freshly ground pepper

1 pound lean ground beef

2 garlic cloves, finely chopped

½ medium onion, finely chopped

1 tablespoon paprika

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon ground allspice

3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil

1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley

In a small saucepan, bring 1½ cups salted water to a boil. Stir in the couscous, cover and remove from the heat. After 5 minutes, fluff the couscous with a fork; season with pepper. Cover to keep warm.

In a bowl, combine the beef, garlic, onion, paprika, cinnamon, cumin, allspice, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 2 tablespoons parsley and 1 teaspoon salt. Form into 8 patties.

Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the beef patties and cook for about 3 minutes on each side for medium-rare. Fluff the couscous again with a fork, transfer to a platter and top with the beef patties and the remaining 2 tablespoons parsley.

http://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipes/rachael-ray-magazine-recipe-search/lunch-recipes/Moroccan-Beef-Patties