Lamb Meatballs with Mint and Feta

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I love Smitten Kitchen. Everyone loves Smitten Kitchen. The familiarity with which people lovingly refer to "Deb" as "Deb" and not "The Woman Who Posts on Smitten Kitchen" blows my mind. And apparently she is gracious and delightful in person. If you've not checked out her site, you are a fool and know nothing.

The recipes Deb publishes are somewhere between elevated and easy home cooking, with a whole spectrum in between. She has a relaxed, explanatory style, and she takes wonderful photos of the dishes. I highly recommend her delightful cookbook, too.

So this week I did a straight Smitten Kitchen recipe, with minor variations. To be honest, I was sold on both the spring flavors of the dish (lemon, mint) and on her description of it as a weeknight meal (wish I had started just a little bit earlier, but next time I could shave time off for sure). It was nice to have guests over for a meal for once(Hi Joe! Hi Beth!), as I don't think I could eat the entirety of this meal even if given a full week.







Lamb isn't always the easiest for me to find, given that my grocery store is the Soviet Safeway (always long lines, and there's never any food). However, my friend Layla recently brought me for my first outing to Glen's Garden Market, a mere 3 blocks away from my apartment! As Layla describes it, it's like Relay Foods, only in an actual location - all locally sourced food items, from produce to meats to pastas to wine and beer (plus $4 drafts, all day, every day and a puppy-friendly outside seating area!). On a whim, I called up Glen's to see if they had ground lamb, and lo and behold, they even held some behind the counter for me until I could get there after work. It's nice to feel special! Plus they can order any cut I want of most meats ... danger zone ...

If you don't like lamb (weirdo), you could absolutely substitute in beef or even turkey. The sauce is like 90% of the game here!



Anyway, this was a surprisingly relaxing meal to make, incredibly easy and utilizing only one large pan for the entire thing. Thanks to Deb at Smitten Kitchen for a fantastic recipe!

Ingredients:

 Meatballs

  • 2 lbs ground lamb
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 1/4 cup panko breadcrumbs
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1/2 cup feta cheese
  • pinch of kosher salt
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • 1/3 cup chopped parsley
  • 3 Tbs tomato paste
  • Zest of half a lemon
  • 2 Tbs olive oil


Sauce
  • 1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
  • 2 cloves of garlic, minced
  • "A couple of glugs of red wine" - I heart Deb for this unit of measurement
  • 28 oz can of crushed tomatoes
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • Zest of the other half of that lemon
  • Pinch of kosher salt
  • 1 tsp red pepper flakes (I used 2 but it had a little more kick to it than most would prefer)
  • 1/3 cup pitted kalamata olives (I left them whole for that whole "rustic" feel)
  • 2 Tbs chopped mint leaves
  • 2 Tbs roughly chopped parsely
  • Juice of that same lemon
  • Mint and feta for garnish


To Prepare:
  1. Open the red wine you will be using to cook the sauce. You should probably taste it now, to make sure it hasn't gone bad.
  2. In a large bowl, combine all of the meatball ingredients except the olive oil. With thoroughly washed hands, take immense pleasure in one of life's simplest joys: mixing things with your hands. Mix all of the ingredients until ... you know ... they're mixed.
  3. Form the meatballs. I went for approximately 11/2 to 2 inch in diameter meatballs. The important thing is that you make them a uniform size. The original recipe estimates about 32 meatballs. I got closer to 26. Do not stress about it: simply form meatballs until all your mixture is used up!
  4. Pour your olive oil into a large pan (you will want a pan you can later cover). Turn the heat up to medium.
  5. Once the oil is at temperature, add meatballs to begin browning them. Make sure you do not overcrowd the pan (there should be room between the meatballs). Do not worry if the balls become flat on one side. Do not worry if bits of meatball stick to the bottom of the pan - this is going to rule shortly!


  6. Brown all of the meatballs, setting them aside on paper towels while you finish the rest in batches.
  7. Once the meatballs are finished and set aside, pour out all but 1 Tbs of the remaining oil. Return the pan to the stove at a medium heat.
  8. Add your onion and garlic, cooking until they begin to turn translucent and soft, about 5 minutes.
  9. Add a few glugs of wine to the pan, and cook until the liquid has reduced by half. Use your spoon to scrape those delicious crispy bits of meatball from the bottom of the pan into the mix. Pour an extra few glugs of wine into your now-empty wine glass.

  10. Add the tomatoes, oregano, lemon zest, salt, red pepper flakes, mint, and parsley. Stir, then reduce heat to a light simmer. Add the meatballs, then cover, and let simmer for 25 minutes.
  11. When the sauce is done, add the lemon juice and stir.
  12. Serve on a bed of orzo. Garnish the top with extra mint leaves and feta.
Bon appetit!

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