Skip to main content

Feta & Lamb Meatballs


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


  1. 500g minced lamb 
  2. 1 package of feta cheese 
  3. 1 large eggplant 
  4. 1 large onion
  5. 2-4 cloves of garlic , diced 
  6. 1 400g can of canellini beans 
  7. 1 400g can of diced tomatoes 
  8. 1 egg 
  9. 75-100g panko breadcrumbs
  10. 1 tsp cumin 
  11. 1 tsp coriander 
  12. 1 tsp oregano 
  13. 1/2 cup wine or other deglazing liquid - I use red wine or chicken broth
  14. 1/2 cup chicken broth     

Putting it Together 

  1. Pre-heat oven to 180C 
  2. Heat 2 - 3 Tbsp olive or vegetable oil in a heavy pan over medium heat in an oven proof skillet 
  3. Slice the onion and cube the eggplant 
  4. 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) 
  5. meanwhile add lamb, egg, panko, cumin, coriander to a mixing bowl. Add salt and pepper as desired  
  6. Using a fork, mix together the meat. Do not over mix too much 
  7. Using your hands, make approx 12 meatballs of uniform size  
  8. 2 minutes before the onions and eggplant are done, add the garlic to the hot pan 
  9. Add the cannellini beans to the pan and turn the heat up to medium high 
  10. After 1 minute or so, add the deglazing liquid and allow it turn boil the alcohol off, stirring through  
  11. Add your can of tomatoes and the extra broth. Bring to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium low
  12. Gently nestle your meatballs on top / into the mixture and sprinkle any remaining breadcrumbs over the top 
  13. 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.
  14. 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
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hot & Sticky Chicken Pops

These are just great. If you've got pickier kids then you can dial up the honey and dial down the hot and they'll love them. For adults, do the opposite. I like to serve this type of stuff as a heavy snack or during a chaotic dinner where you've got lots of folks coming and going. Obviously, these are open to be dressed up any way you like or even just straight roasted / fried for the crispy angle.  Popping the knuckle off of drumsticks is a great trick. It not only makes a nice little handle, it's also visually appealing. Lastly, it severs the little tendons that run up and down chicken thighs that aren't the most pleasant when eating. This is a good technique to get used to using in many different chicken dishes. I believe it is called "Frenched chicken". Gather the Good Stuff  1. Chicken Drumstick - 6-8 or what ever will fit comfortably in your roasting pan 2. 1 Tbsp - rice wine vinegar    3. 1 Tbsp honey - use good stuff  4. 1-3 Tbsp Sriracha 5. Salt &
1 comment
Read more

Chicken Noodle and Sausage Soup

  The wind where I live can cut you right down to the bone. Nothing will get you back up to speed like a warming bowl of homemade soup. It's also the best way to get through all the bones you've been saving from other dishes you've made by making the base from scratch in the form of your own broth. The veggies here can be changed up to taste of course or to suit whatever you've got on hand. This recipe is a in two parts, a recipe for the broth and a recipe for the soup itself. It's all pretty straight forward and I'd encourage you to mix it up with the exception of one part - do not cook your noodles directly in the soup itself. The result of that is a terrible mess if you reheat the soup. The noodles get way overcooked and they start to disintegrate. Best to cook them separately.  Gather the Good Stuff Broth  This recipe presumes that you've been saving bones etc from other meals that you cooked and that you've got roughly enough to make a decent stock.
1 comment
Read more

Gloriously Garlic Noodles

  This is a dish that you can have on the table in 20 minutes or less. It has relatively simple ingredients that pack a ton of flavour. It's also open to a lot of variation. I like to serve it with shrimp as shown but really any protein will work, seafood being the fastest one to add. Also, feel free to play with the amount of garlic. The recipe that follows is on the extreme end of how much you want to put it in there. if you find garlic a little overpowering, or you have a dentist appointment the next day, maybe tone it down a bit.   Gather the Good Stuff  In regards to the sauce, you can be pretty loose with the quantities. If you like it a little saltier, use more soy sauce. If you like it a little hotter, add a little more cayenne. For the noodles, literally any noodles will do. I used the standard spaghetti but that's just because it is what I had on hand.  2 Tbsp soy sauce - a shot of a thicker darker one is probably a good idea. if you use one that is too light you'
1 comment
Read more