Lamb Meatballs

So, our friends Wes and Sangeeta have a house in the mountains, kind of near where we're getting married. 

It's close to where we live, but 10 degrees cooler, totally isolated, and totally mountainous.  Duh.

We went there last weekend!

I made dinner one night, and part of the dinner was these meatballs.  They're lamb.  They taste like a gyro.  Or the middle east. Or something slightly foreign but SO flavorful and delicious and you want to eat 1,000 of them.

You know foods like that, right?

These are SUPER easy, can be made ahead, and are insanely flavorful.  You'll be wanting to make them ASAP. They're just lamb, mint, garlic, onion, salt, olive oil, cinnamon, allspice, and cumin.  YUM.  I love all of these flavors.  

To prep, heat the oven to 425F and prepare a pan.  I like to make meatballs with a baking rack set inside of a baking sheet lined with foil for easy clean up and so the meatballs don't have to be turned, but you can cook them anyway that works for you.

Finely chop the mint.

And grate or finely chop the onion and garlic.  I use a zester directly over the meat bowl to get all the onion and garlic juice to add more flavor and moisture to the balls.  Heh.  

Now, to a large bowl, add the lamb, mint, garlic, onion, spices, and a drizzle of olive oil and sprinkle of salt.  I like to add just a little salt to the meat mixture then sprinkle the outside of the meatballs very lightly with salt later on - it makes them delicious!

Use your hands to mix the lamb with all the flavorings until the spices and herbs are evenly distributed.

Then, roll your balls!  I like golf-ball sized meatballs, but larger or smaller would be great depending on your purposes.  

Now, if you're making these in advance you can bake them halfway, then keep them in the freezer or fridge until you want to eat and finish baking them right before your meal.  If you'd like to cook them completely, bake them at 425F for 15 - 20 minutes, depending on the size, until they're golden on the outside and just barely pink on the inside.  Or cook them to well-done if that's your thing  It's up to you.

That's it for these beauties, guys.  You can serve them over rice, with hummus or this tzatziki....

....or you could stuff them in a pita!

I personally just....ate them on the cutting board right out of the oven, but whatever. 

Tomorrow I'll tell you about the meal I served these with, I promise.  You'll want to come back for that, because the meal looks like THIS:

The end. 

Shared @Weekend Potluck. 

Lamb Meatballs

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• Total Time: 35 minutes

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Ingredients

Scale 1x2x3x

• 2 pounds ground lamb
• ¼ small onion
• 1 large clove garlic
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ½ teaspoon allspice
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint

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Instructions

1. Preheat the oven to 425F. Line a baking sheet with tin foil, and set a rack in the lined sheet for cooking.
2. In a bowl, combine the lamb, cinnamon, cumin, allspice, olive oil, and mint with a sprinkle of salt. Grate the onion and garlic directly into the bowl, and mix the lamb mixture together evenly with your hands.
3. Form into golf-ball sized meatballs with your hands, then bake for 15 - 20 minutes until the meatballs are just barely still cooked in the center.
4. Serve as desired.

Notes

• To make-ahead, you can half-bake the meatballs then refrigerate or freeze them until you're ready to use them. To bake from frozen, put the meatballs on a baking sheet or rack in the oven, THEN turn on the oven so the meatballs can heat through gradually as the oven heats up, then finish baking until cooked through.

• Prep Time: 15
• Cook Time: 20

Nutrition

• Serving Size: 4