Tag: meatballs

Meatballs and beans in a lemon sauce.

This is a delicious recipe from Ottolenghi’s ‘Jerusalem’ which is one of my favourite recipe books. It has a sense of Persia about it, and for a while I was trying to find it in another book. I used up a couple of reduced lamb steaks and some beef mince, as well as some broad beans from the freezer to make this. It is easiest to make if you have a mincer; mine is electric and very efficient. 

INGREDIENTS: 

For the meatballs:

  • 300g beef mince
  • 200g lamb mince (or mince some lamb)
  • 1 onion, finely chopped
  • 120g breadcrumbs (I put three large slices of stale wholemeal bread in a blender)
  • 2tbsp each of chopped mint, coriander and parsley
  • 1 tsp dried dill (or 2 tbsp fresh dill, chopped if it is available)
  • 2 large cloves of garlic, crushed
  • 1 tbsp baharat spice mix (I got mine from Seasoned Pioneers) 
  • 1 tbsp ground cumin
  • 2 tsp capers, chopped
  • 1 large egg, beaten

For the Sauce:

  • 4 tbsp olive oil
  • 300 to 400g broad beans, fresh or frozen
  • 1 tsp dried thyme, or the leaves from 4 fresh sprigs
  • 6 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • a bunch of spring onions, in 2cm segments, or a chopped shallot
  • juice of half a lemon (around 2 tbsp, or to taste)
  • 500ml chicken stock
  • salt and pepper

METHOD:

  • In a large bowl, mix the meatball ingredients together. If you have a mincer, feed the mixture through the mincer after mixing, to ensure the ingredients are chopped and mixed together. 
  • Divide the mixture into 24 meatballs, about the size of a pingpong ball. Put them on an oiled baking tray, and leave them in the fridge for at least 20 minutes. 
  • Heat the oven up to high, and then put the chilled meatballs in for 5 minutes, until they are browned. 
  • Meanwhile, if you are feeling keen, poach the broad beans and remove the skins. Personally I like the skins and generally leave them on. The original recipe suggests half and half. 
  • In a large casserole pan, heat the olive oil. When it is hot, fry the spring onion, thyme and garlic over a medium heat for 3 minutes or so. 
  • Add the unpeeled broad beans, 1 1/2 tbsp lemon juice, 80ml stock, 1/4 tsp salt and lots of black pepper. Poach the beans in the stock for 10 minutes.
  • Add the meatballs with the remaining stock, bring to a simmer and cook for 25 minutes over a low heat. At this juncture, you could turn the heat off and do something else, and come back to reheat. 
  • Just before serving, check to see if there is enough sauce. Stir in mixed chopped fresh herbs (mint, coriander, parsley, dill) and the peeled beans.

I served this with plain rice, my daugher got a wee take-away from me, and served hers with orzo pasta and pinenuts. Both delicious. 

Orzo with meatballs

This is a bit of a mixture of recipes. My daughter left some Orzo pasta when she last visited. I hadn’t come across it before, it looks like large bits of rice. So I googled and tested and used what was in my fridge and freezer. This is heavily based on Nigella Lawson’s dish of the same name, but there are other twists from similar recipes. 

You could use one of my other meatball recipes to make the meatball mixture, but I followed the method below. The recipe makes six servings. 

INGREDIENTS:

  • 500g mince
  • 1 large egg
  • 50g breadcrumbs
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • 50g grated parmesan
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 2 cloves of garlic
  • 1 litre cold water
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 onion, peeled and finely chopped
  • 2 tsp dried oregano (I actually used the mystery herbs)
  • 60ml red vermouth or red wine
  • 2 cans of chopped tomatoes
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 300g orzo pasta

METHOD:

  • Put the mince, egg, breadcrumbs, garlic, oregano, parmesan and 1 tsp salt into a large mixing bowl, and mix to a smooth paste. Leave to chill in the fridge for half an hour minimum.
  • Heat the oven to 180C
  • Make small meatballs from the mixture, about the size of a large marble. I made around 35. They should be small enough to eat whole without looking greedy. Put them onto the bottom of a roasting tray or baking sheet. 
  • Bake the meatballs in the oven for around fifteen minutes. 
  • MEANWHILE get ready for the sauce and pasta. Get the ingredients assembled. 
  • Heat the oil in a large casserole dish or pan with a lid. Cook the chopped onion over a medium heat for around 10 minutes until very soft and cooked
  • Add the herbs and stir them in, before adding the vermouth. 
  • Once the vermouth is hot and bubbling, add the tomatoes, and rinse out the tins with the water before adding that as well. Add 1 tsp salt at this stage. 
  • Bring the mixture back to a simmer, and let it cook with the lid on for around twenty minutes.
  • Add the orzo and the meatballs, bring back to a simmer, and cook with the lid on for a further ten to fifteen minutes. The orzo has a tendency to stick, so the occasional stir will help. 
  • Serve in shallow bowls, garnished with parmesan shavings and chopped parsley. 
  • I also served a dish of grilled asparagus and buttered baby carrots. 

Meatballs recipe 1 (Italian style)

I’ve a few meatball recipes to try, this one was delicious. It is adapted from another recipe that I have, but I needed to cut the quantities down, and make it simpler.

INGREDIENTS:

  • 450g minced beef
  • 50g breadcrumbs (I used panko) OR stick one slice of stale bread in a blender.
  • 1 tbsp dried oregano
  • 1/2 tsp ground cumin
  • 1/4 tsp chilli powder
  • 1 tsp dried rosemary
  • 1 egg yolk
  • salt and pepper
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1 tomato sauce recipe
  • Fresh basil, if available, or use good quality green pesto sauce
  • 1 pack of mozzarella cheese
  • 50g grated parmesan

METHOD:

  • In a large bowl, mix the mince, breadcrumbs, oregano, cumin, chilli, rosemary and egg yolk. Season with 1 level teaspoon of salt and a good grating of black pepper. Get your hands right into the mixture and really knead it together so that it is smooth and consistent.
  • Shape into meatballs. I divided the mixture into 16 meatballs, but you could make these into 24 smaller meatballs. Put on a tray, and chill in the fridge until needed.
  • Put the fresh tomato sauce into the bottom of a large shallow casserole dish or other oven-safe dish.
  • Preheat a large flat-bottomed pan, and put in a good quantity of olive oil. Fry the meatballs quickly until they are browned all over. When they are done, put them into the tomato sauce.
  • Cover the meatballs in sauce, top the dish with the cheeses and pesto or basil.
  • Bake in a hot oven 200C for 20 minutes and serve with pasta. We got some posh tagliatelle from the co-op which worked well.