I have been so lame and have not done one entry for forever! I have done some good dinner's and with fabulous recipes. I first tried this first recipe when I was a personal chef. It was found in fine cooking magazine. It's another lamb dish but it is great and my son loves it! It's a good dish for an alternative meat choice other than the standard red meat or chicken.
Greek Spiced Lamb Meatballs in Tomato Sauce and Feta
Of course with all recipes you can make adjustments! First for the sauce, it called for 8lbs fresh tomatoes but I did change that.
8 lb ripe tomatoes (about 40) I used 2 cans 1 crushed and 1 whole tomatoes (San Marzanos worked good too!) They are just from a region in Italy and give great flavor. Anyway....
1/4 cup olive oil
3 medium garlic cloves, crushed
2 tsp. kosher salt or a great sea salt
If your going to use fresh tomatoes bring a large pot of water to a boil. Rinse tomatoes and cut an x at the bottom of each one. This will make it easier to peel after they are blanched. Once the water come to a boil drop about 10 of the tomatoes in the water and cook for about 30 seconds. Do this in bathces. After each round transfer them with a slotted spoon to ice and let cool.
Once cooled use a pairing knife and your fingers to peel the skin from the tomatoes. Cut the tomatoes, core, and remove the seeds. Toss in a bowl.
Heat the oil and the garlic in a heavy duty pot large enough to cook the sauce over med low heat. When the garlic begins to sizzle and lightly brown 3-4 minutes carefully put in the tomatoes. If your cheating with canned like I have done then pour in your 2 can or more if you want of tomatoes. Raise the heat to meduim high and bring to a boil. Add your salt and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the tomatoes have broken down and the sauce has thickend, about 1 hour. Remove from heat and the original recipe says discard garlic, but I just leave it in because I chop it! Still taste the same! Now for the meat balls and kicking up the sauce.......
1 cup fresh bread crumbs, fresh is best they make every recipe taste better. Especially for this recipe I would Not use canned. I like to buy a good loaf of bread just for stuff like this and just make my own . Cut it up and just dry it all out size or shape does not matter. anyway side tracked once again...
1 cup fresh bread crumbs
1/4 cup milk
1 lb. ground lamb or more which I do because these are good
1 large egg or 2 if you add more meat
2-3 tbs. mince red onion
1 tbs. chopped flat leaf parsley
2 tsp or so fresh oregano
1or 2 cloves minced garlic
2 tsp or so chopped mint
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/4 tsp. paprika
1/4 tsp. ground allspice
kosher salt and pepper
For the sauce again...
2 tbs extra virgin olive oil
1 cup or so chopped red onion
2 tsp. or so fresh oregano
1 bay leaf
1 cinnamon stick
1/2 tsp. allspice
1/2 cup red wine dry
2-3 cups of your basic red sauce you made earlier
salt and pepper
feta cheese
Make the meatballs
Heat oven to 400 and lightly coat a rimmed baking sheet with cooking spray. You can also line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil and coat. In a small bowl combine bread crumbs and milk. Let sit until the bread absorbs the milk about 10 minutes.
Put the lamb in a meduim bowl. If you have excess milk in the bread crumbs squeeze the excess and discard. Add the bread crumbs to the lamb. Add the egg, onion, and all the spices to the lamb and mix with your hands. Using your hands shape mixture in so golf size balls and arrange on your baking sheet.
Bake the meatballs until cooked through and browned about 20-25 minutes.
Make the sauce
Heat oil in a pot large enough to hold your 2-3 cups sauce and warm over oil over medium heat. Add the onion and cook stirring often and onion is soft, about 8 minutes or so. Stir in your oregano, bay leaf, cinnamon stick, and allspice. Raise the heat to medium high heat and add the red wine. Simmer for a minute or 2 until slightly reduced and then add the simple sauce and a 1/2 cup water. Bring the sauce to a boil, reduce heat to medium low and simmer for about 30 minutes. Add more water if it seems to thick.
Add the baked meatballs to the sauce to coat them. Cover the pan partially and cook until the meatballs are heated threw about 5 minutes. Discard bay leaf and cinnamon stick. Add salt and pepper if necessary. Sprinle with the feta cheese.
I like to serve this with pita bread and you can also throw it over cooked pasta. My son loves this and it's a repeat dinner!
