Description

Freshen up your meatball recipe with these Moroccan inspired meatballs. They are simply amazing and completely different from your old favorite.

Ingredients

• Meatballs:
• 1 lb. ground lamb (ground chicken or turkey can be substituted)
• 1/2 medium red onion, very finely minced
• 2 cloves garlic, finely minced
• 2 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled, finely grated
• 1/4 c. plain dry bread crumbs
• 1 large egg, well beaten
• handful of fresh parsley leaves, finely chopped
• handful of fresh cilantro leaves, finely chopped
• handful of fresh mint leaves, finely chopped
• zest of 2 lemons
• 1/2 c. pine nuts
• 1/2 c. fresh feta cheese, finely crumbled
• 1 t. salt
• 1 t. freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 t. cinnamon
• 1 t. freshly toasted and ground cardamom-see below
• olive oil, for frying
• Sauce:
• 2/3 c. tahini
• freshly squeezed juice of 1 lemon
• 3/4 t. salt
• warm water
• Garnish:
• pine nuts
• chopped parsley, cilantro, or mint
• sprinkling of smoked paprika

Steps

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Place meat, onion, garlic, ginger, bread crumbs, beaten egg, herbs, lemon zest, pine nuts, feta cheese, cinnamon, cardamom, salt and pepper into a large bowl. Mix lightly with fingertips, getting ingredients evenly distributed and not compacting the meat.
3. Form walnut sized meatballs. This can be done several hours ahead of time if wanted. Make sure to cover meat completely with plastic wrap and refrigerate until needed.