While Jack Frost is tapping his fingers at the window, it's hard to reconcile the need to lose those extra pounds accumulated over the holiday with intense cravings for the sort of food that goes with mashed potato. My solution is meatballs, but it requires looking beyond the homely Swedish version in their rich cream sauce and Italian ones with spaghetti.

One of my favourite comfort meatball dishes was discovered at a hotel set in the city walls of Taroudant, a magical place inland from Agadir, Morocco. Their lamb and mint meatballs are simmered in onion gravy flavoured with ras al hanout, sultanas and honey; the dish finished with peas. Another version that fits the bill is an Iraqi recipe for meaty, basil-flavoured beef meatballs in a lemon-scented, caramelised onion-flecked, dal-style soup, discovered in a delightfully idiosyncratic Royal College of Art illustrated cookbook.

This recipe popped into my head recently when faced with a kilo of mince (part of a beef special offer from www.thoroughlywildmeat.co.uk) and unexpected guests. Memories of meatballs I once ate at the long-gone Phoenicia, a favourite Lebanese restaurant on London's Abingdon Road (also frequented by Elizabeth David) were almost certainly made with lamb, but cumin with fresh coriander and mint, chilli flakes and grated onion works in beef meatballs too.

These balls are fried rather than poached in their sauce, then tumbled over couscous topped with a fiery, chilli-spiked tomato sauce. Flavours and textures are offset by a sprinkling of toasted pine kernels, a cooling swirl of yoghurt and sprigs of coriander. Laid out on a platter, the combination looks just as appealing as it tastes.

The great thing about meatballs is that they can be made with any minced meat, flavoured as you fancy with herbs, spices, nuts and citrus zest, the texture softened with breadcrumbs soaked in milk or hydrated couscous. They can be poached in stock or in a sauce, fried and then added to a sauce or cooked in the oven. Dry meat such as chicken, pork and pheasant needs help to avoid the meatballs ending up hard and dry, so plenty of breadcrumbs and herbs. Or try blanched, shredded spinach and grated onion. Use this recipe as a template and get rolling.

While Jack Frost is tapping his fingers at the window, it's hard to reconcile the need to lose those extra pounds accumulated over the holiday with intense cravings for the sort of food that goes with mashed potato. My solution is meatballs, but it requires looking beyond the homely Swedish version in their rich cream sauce and Italian ones with spaghetti.

One of my favourite comfort meatball dishes was discovered at a hotel set in the city walls of Taroudant, a magical place inland from Agadir, Morocco. Their lamb and mint meatballs are simmered in onion gravy flavoured with ras al hanout, sultanas and honey; the dish finished with peas. Another version that fits the bill is an Iraqi recipe for meaty, basil-flavoured beef meatballs in a lemon-scented, caramelised onion-flecked, dal-style soup, discovered in a delightfully idiosyncratic Royal College of Art illustrated cookbook.

This recipe popped into my head recently when faced with a kilo of mince (part of a beef special offer from www.thoroughlywildmeat.co.uk) and unexpected guests. Memories of meatballs I once ate at the long-gone Phoenicia, a favourite Lebanese restaurant on London's Abingdon Road (also frequented by Elizabeth David) were almost certainly made with lamb, but cumin with fresh coriander and mint, chilli flakes and grated onion works in beef meatballs too.

These balls are fried rather than poached in their sauce, then tumbled over couscous topped with a fiery, chilli-spiked tomato sauce. Flavours and textures are offset by a sprinkling of toasted pine kernels, a cooling swirl of yoghurt and sprigs of coriander. Laid out on a platter, the combination looks just as appealing as it tastes.

The great thing about meatballs is that they can be made with any minced meat, flavoured as you fancy with herbs, spices, nuts and citrus zest, the texture softened with breadcrumbs soaked in milk or hydrated couscous. They can be poached in stock or in a sauce, fried and then added to a sauce or cooked in the oven. Dry meat such as chicken, pork and pheasant needs help to avoid the meatballs ending up hard and dry, so plenty of breadcrumbs and herbs. Or try blanched, shredded spinach and grated onion.

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