Lemon & Basil Meatballs
Meatballs are undoubtably a crowd-pleaser. No matter how old you are and how your taste has evolved over the years, meatballs will always be there at the top of the list. My favourite version is the classic meatball with tomato sauce served with mash. I am really looking forward to post as soon as the weather gets a bit colder.
This version is perfect for warmer weather as the combination of lemon and basil will give you freshness and a pleasant tangy kick. I like to call them Sunshine Meatballs.
These are best served with simple blanched greens or veggies. I paired them with green beans with olive oil and lemon.
It’s a really simple recipe that will be ready in no time and I guarantee will make you happy.
Sunshine Meatballs.
Ingredients
500g beef mince
3 slices of bread
1 small bowl of vegetable stock
1 garlic clove
3 tbsp of parmesan cheese
zest of 1 lemon + 3 pieces of lemon peel
1 egg
1tsp of salt
pepper to taste
2 spring onions
½ a glass of white wine
olive oil
1 handful of basil + some extra leaves to add before serving
flour (enough to coat the meatballs)
Cooking time
40min
Step by step
Pour the vegetable stock in a bowl and quickly soak in the bread
Take the bread out of the bowl with the vegetable stock and squeeze the water out with your hands. Squeeze as much as possible
Roughly chop the bread and put it in a separate bowl with the mince meat, crushed garlic, handful of chopped basil, salt, pepper, lemon zest and egg
Mix everything and form the meatballs. Up to you to decide how big you want them to be
Add some flour in a bowl and dip in the meatballs one by one to coat them. Make sure you get rid of any excess flour as you only want to have a thin coating
Add some olive oil in a pan and warm it up. When it’s hot, add the meatballs and keep the heat medium high. You want to achieve a good level of crunchiness as well as give them a nice golden-brown colour
Make sure you turn the meatballs frequently in the pan to ensure an even colour
Now it’s time to add the lemon peel and the glass of white wine in the pan. Keep the heat up as you want the alcohol to evaporate. This will only take 2 or three minutes.
Once the alcohol has evaporated add in the chopped spring onions and turn the heat down to medium low. You can cover the pan with the lid and let the meatballs cook slowly. Cooking time will depend on the size of your meatballs. Mine took roughly 15minutes and they were medium-small
When they are ready, take them off the hob, get rid of the lemon peel and scatter a few chopped basil leaves on top
Serve them on a plate with blanched greens and enjoy!
Tips & cheats
The first watch-out here is the bread you’ll chose. Its purpose is to help give you tender and moist meatballs. The downside is that if the bread is too soft and the stock hasn’t been squeezed out of it well enough, your meatballs will not hold their shape. To avoid this try using stale bread or a bread with a chewy consistency. I used white toast bread only because I didn’t have any other option when I made the meatballs. In an ideal scenario I would have used stale sourdough.
When you coat the meatballs with flour it is very important that you get rid of all the excess flour otherwise it will sit at the bottom of your pan and burn. To do that, shuffle the meatballs through your hands, one at a time. This movement will help you get rid of all the excess flour and it will also allow a thin layer of flour to adhere better to the surface of the meatball.
Cooking time will depend on the size of your meatballs. It should be between 15 and 25min. To know if they are ready you can pierce 1 of the meatballs. If the liquid that comes out is slightly red it means they need some extra time. If the liquid that comes out is clear and transparent, they are ready. If no liquid comes out it means you’ve overcooked them.
If your meatballs are not perfectly rounded and have a few rough edges, don’t despair. Meatballs are meant to be rough and rustic. We are not after Michelin stars here, we just want to have a great meal at home prepared with love.
