Paleo Kabocha & Lamb Shepherd's Pie

Happy November folks!  We had our neighbors over for dinner recently, and this is the perfect recipe for entertaining.  One pot meal, easy to prepare ahead of time, and although the picture doesn't reflect it, it does present really well! 

This is one of those epic fall meals... warm, filling, and full of all of the flavors that you crave when the leaves turn.  Since I live in southern California I have to have true seasons vicariously through the internet, so I just google pictures of fall foliage or check out my non-California friends Facebook pages.   But make no mistake, I love surfing, not owning an umbrella, and eating al fresco year round, so I have no complaints. 

This take on traditional Shepherd's Pie was inspired by Sunset Magazine, where one day I hope to grace even a tiny corner of their magical, inspirational (if somewhat unrealistic) pages.  Yay for life in the West! 

Paleo Tunisian Beef & Meatball Stew

This recipe for T'fina Pkaila came from Saveur, and it's perfect for a rainy day.  With beef ribs and meatballs, you get a double dose of bovine, and the color from the carrots and spinach make it a gorgeous dish to serve.

Meatballs:

olive oil

1 small onion, diced

2 lbs ground veal (or ground beef)

1 tbs cumin

1 tbs pepper

2 tbs fresh cilantro, chopped

2 tbs fresh parsley, chopped

1 tsp salt

1 tsp paprika

1 tsp cinnamon

1 egg, beaten

Heat oil in a large pot (I used a dutch oven), and cook onions until trabsulcent.  Transfer to a bowl and mix all remaining ingredients together (using your hands works best), then form the mixture into balls.  Add a little more oil to the pan, and brown all sides of the meatballs - this will probably take a few batches.  Put meatballs on a plate and set aside.

Stew:

Olive oil

2 lbs beef short ribs* 

4 gloves garlic, mined

1 large onion, chopped

3 large carrots, peeled and cubed

5 cups beef stock

10+ oz spinach leaves, roughly chopped

salt & pepper

Season beef with salt and pepper, browning the sides.  Remove from pan and add onions and garlic and cook about 5 minutes.  Return beef to pot, add stock and carrots and simmer on low (covered) for about an hour.  Add meatballs and cook about 10 more minutes, add spinach about 5 minutes before serving so it stays green and doesn't get too soggy.

*When I was at the market there were 2 beautiful beef shanks/osso bucco on sale so I bought them instead of splurging on the short ribs.