Lamb Meatballs: a twist on the Easter feast

 
Yes, the day before Easter is a little late to be making menu decisions, not to mention those that definitely require a trip to the grocery store. That said, you might want to live on the edge and make that store run because these are just plain tremendous.
 
Lamb and mint are familiar players at the Easter table, but not in meatball form. When you
taste these, however, you’ll wonder, “Why the hell not?” Even better than being delicious, these are beyond easy, requiring only one semi weird ingredient. I’m talking about you, harissa. Much as I love you, however, you can be replaced. The only change I made to the original recipe was to scale it up slightly. I also made them easier and healthier (you’re welcome) by baking them instead of frying them. This technique comes straight from our favorite buffalo chicken meatball recipe. 
 
There’s not much else to say about these. If you can’t make them for Easter I strongly suggest making them for some other occasion. I suspect they will go very well with leftover Easter candy.

Lamb Meatballs with Yogurt Sauce

Adapted from Matt Jennings Homegrown
 

Ingredients:

For the yogurt sauce:
  • 2 cups plain whole-milk yogurt 
  • 2 garlic cloves, finely minced 
  • 3 tablespoons finely chopped fresh dill 
  • 2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh mint 
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper 
For the meatballs:
  • 2 pounds ground lamb 
  • 2 eggs, lightly beaten 
  • 3/4 cup fine fresh bread crumbs 
  • 1 large shallot, minced 
  • 1 1/2 tablespoon harissa (or sambal oelek, siracha or another red chile paste) 
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt 
  • 1 teaspoon cumin seeds (or ground cumin)
  • ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
 For garnish (totally extra credit but totally worth it):
  • Toasted sunflower seeds
  • Pickled chiles, homemade or store-bought

Method:

Preheat oven to 400.

Make the yogurt sauce: In a medium bowl, whisk together the yogurt, garlic, 2 tablespoons of the dill, and 1 tablespoon of the mint. Season to taste with salt and pepper and set aside.

Make the meatballs: In a large bowl, combine the lamb, egg, bread crumbs, shallot, harissa, salt, cumin, and pepper and mix well with your hands. Shape into golf ball sized meatballs, dipping your hands in cold water as needed to keep the mixture from sticking.

Assemble meatballs snugly in a lightly-oiled  13″ x 9″ baking dish (or any other combo of baking  dishes that work) so they touch each other. 

Bake for 20-25 minutes until they look yummy and done.

Spoon some yogurt sauce into the bottom of four bowls. Top with a few meatballs, and garnish with the remaining dill and mint, the sunflower seeds, and a few pickled chiles.

Serves 6 as a main course, our 4 with lotsa leftovers.

2 thoughts on “Lamb Meatballs: a twist on the Easter feast”

  1. Suzi Curtis

    Last day before Easter AND it is YOUR BIRTHDAY. Happy Birthday, beautiful woman who is the best chef, writer, mom and friend.

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