Lamb is a polarizing protein. Quite a few people find the taste a little too strong and they shy away from it. I on the other hand just love it. If you're a fan of lamb flavour you'll enjoy this dish because the lamb is the main taste that comes through once it's all done. I've added in cannellini beans to make it a true one pot meal. Even with the beans, it's great spread out on a slice of crusty toasted bread.
Gather the Good Stuff
- 500g minced lamb
- 1 package of feta cheese
- 1 large eggplant
- 1 large onion
- 2-4 cloves of garlic , diced
- 1 400g can of canellini beans
- 1 400g can of diced tomatoes
- 1 egg
- 75-100g panko breadcrumbs
- 1 tsp cumin
- 1 tsp coriander
- 1 tsp oregano
- 1/2 cup wine or other deglazing liquid - I use red wine or chicken broth
- 1/2 cup chicken broth
Putting it Together
- Pre-heat oven to 180C
- Heat 2 - 3 Tbsp olive or vegetable oil in a heavy pan over medium heat in an oven proof skillet
- Slice the onion and cube the eggplant
- When the oil is hot, add both to the pan and saute for 15-20 minutes until very soft (dont skimp on the time here, undercooked onions will ruin this)
- meanwhile add lamb, egg, panko, cumin, coriander to a mixing bowl. Add salt and pepper as desired
- Using a fork, mix together the meat. Do not over mix too much
- Using your hands, make approx 12 meatballs of uniform size
- 2 minutes before the onions and eggplant are done, add the garlic to the hot pan
- Add the cannellini beans to the pan and turn the heat up to medium high
- After 1 minute or so, add the deglazing liquid and allow it turn boil the alcohol off, stirring through
- Add your can of tomatoes and the extra broth. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium low
- Gently nestle your meatballs on top / into the mixture and sprinkle any remaining breadcrumbs over the top
- Transfer the pan to the preheat oven and allow to cook for 25-30 minutes until most of the liquid has been absorbed by the beans and the meatballs are cooked through.
- When finished, remove from the oven and crumble 1/2 - 3/4 of the feta over the dish. Reserve the rest to be added with on second helpings
Comments
Post a Comment