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Hmm ... When Should Tom Have Put the Rice on ...

Age 11 to 16
Challenge Level Yellow star
  • Problem
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Timeline Preparing Meatballs Preparing Tomato and bell pepper sauce Preparing rice
0 min Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the onion and cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft but not brown. Remove the skillet from the heat, and allow the onion to cool. Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add the garlic, shallots and bell peppers and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the peppers are soft but not brown.  
10 min Add the onion to the lamb with the egg, lemon juice, cumin, cayenne, mint, salt and pepper in a large bowl.  Use your hands to squeeze all the ingredients together. With wet hands, shape the mixture into small balls. Add the tomatoes, orange rind and salt and pepper and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat as far as possible and let simmer uncovered for 45 minutes, or until the liquid evaporates and the sauce thickens. This will take 50 minutes in all.   
20 min Place on a baking sheet and chill for at least 20 minutes.    
30 min     To cook the rice, allow 5 minutes for it to come to the boil
40 min     20 minutes rice simmering time
50 min Heat a small amount of oil in a skillet, and arrange as many of the meatballs as possible in a single layer but without over-crowding them. Cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes, until brown on the outside but still pink inside. Probably you need to cook two times for such amount of meat. So, it will take 10 minutes at all. Puree the sauce through a sieve or in a food processor. Taste and adjust the seasoning if necessary.  

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The NRICH Project aims to enrich the mathematical experiences of all learners. To support this aim, members of the NRICH team work in a wide range of capacities, including providing professional development for teachers wishing to embed rich mathematical tasks into everyday classroom practice.

NRICH is part of the family of activities in the Millennium Mathematics Project.

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