Greek Lamb Meatballs
This dish has several names, variants and different countries claim its origin.
Let’s assume this is the Greek version and I have to be honest: I don’t always use the exact same spices and ratios. I tend to improvise based on what I have at home. The two things I never forget to use are garlic and mint.
The more traditional recipes don’t use mint, but I find it gives a fresh touch to the otherwise heavy taste of lamb.
“I don’t like at all the idea of putting my hands in the raw minced lamb. ”
I can’t contradict him, it’s pretty disgusting but, it’s also true that the more you do it the less you’ll notice. With time you will also appreciate the fact that, putting your hands in the minced meat means you have absolute control of all the ingredients and taste of the final dish. You can tell how fresh the meat is, you are aware of the quality, salt, herb combo used, and you can decide to add more of what you like making it unique to your taste.
These taste much better than they look
Ingredients list & tools
500 g ground lamb
4 tbsp olive oil
2 cloves of garlic
2 tbsp fresh thyme
1 tbsp tomato paste
2 tbsp breadcrumbs
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
2 tsp salt
pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
Cooking Time & People
10min hands on
45min in the oven @200
Put all the ingredients in a bowl
Mix thoroughly with your hands, until all of the ingredients are completely combined.
Cover bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour to allow the meat to marinate. You can keep it in the refrigerator for up to 2 days.
You can skip this step if you don’t have time…it will still be delicious
Preheat the oven at 200
Scoop up 2-3 tablespoons of the meat mixture and roll with your hands lengthwise
Repeat the same process with the remaining meat mixture until you have created 6-8 “meatballs”
Put them in a tray and drizzle them with olive oil
Cook them for roughly 40 to 45min. You can turn the grill on 5min before the end if you want them to get brown
Tips & cheats (what can go wrong and how to fix it)
Lamb is quite a fatty meat and when you cook it in the oven it might release a lot of its fat. Don’t panic, it’s quite normal and you can decide if you want to keep it or if you want to take your tray out for a couple of minutes to simply get rid of the excess fat before putting it back in.
“I am still not sure about putting my hands in the mincemeat but making something with your hands is really satisfying”
Careful what you wish for…dough is next on the list if you want to use your hands!
