OK, last one of these recipes from this fantastic book Jerusalem and it's a real winner. I normally try not to post too much cooking that isn't mostly, if not entirely, my own - but these were just the best damn meatballs I've ever had. And speaking as the Fatboy that I am, lord knows that I've had one or two meatballs in my time. This is a great dish for a dinner party, or for date night...basically you should cook this for anyone that you're trying to impress. It's delicious and it's simple, and it's full of green things that are sure to satisfy the health-conscious amongst you. Although if that is your thing you might just be on the wrong blog...
The best meatballs all have two or more different kinds of meats. The Italians love a good beef/pork combo and up until recently those loveable Swedes over in IKEA even threw a bit of horse into the mix (full disclosure, I tried the 'new' meatball recipe recently: not as good - I say bring back the horsies). This recipe actually calls for a mix of beef (about 300g) and lamb (150g), and they just work beautifully together. Combine the meat with a diced red onion, 120g breadcrumbs, 2 crushed garlic cloves, 1tbsp each of cumin and baharat spice mix, 2 tsp of chopped capers and 1 beaten egg.
Throw in a pinch of salt and plenty of black pepper, then mix in 2 tbsp each of chopped parsley, mint and coriander. The recipe calls for the same of dill, but dill's on a very short list of foodstuffs I despise, so not gonna go there. If you're gonna buy lots of fresh herbs and you want to make sure they keep for a while in the fridge, wrap them in damp kitchen towel and then make sure they're sealed tight in a bag or tupperware. Look how helpful I can be when I feel like it.
Form into balls that are as big or as small as you and your mouth can handle - mine were roughly the size of golf balls. Tasty, meaty golf balls. Heat olive oil in a frying pan, then sear your meatballs over a medium heat for about 5 minutes, or until they're brown all over.
Please would everyone just take a moment to look at the smallest spring onion I have ever seen.
And back to the meatballs. Once they've been fried off, remove them from the heat and set aside. Next turn your attention to your broad beans - a foodstuff that used to be on said list, but has since progressed onto my (much longer) list of favourite foodstuffs. A rare feat indeed. Stick 350g of broad beans - either fresh or frozen - in a pot of heavily salted, boiling water and blanch for 2 minutes. Drain and refresh under cold water then remove the skins from about half of the beans. Heat some olive oil in the same pan that you seared the meatballs in then add 4 whole thyme sprigs 6 sliced garlic cloves (LOTSA garlic up in here), and 8 sliced spring onions (world's smallest or otherwise). Add the unshelled broad beans, 1 1/2tbsp of lemon juice, 80ml chicken stock and a bit more S&P. Cover the pan and let it all simmer away on a low heat for 10 mins.
Return the meatballs to the pan, add another 420ml of stock, cover again and leave to simmer for another 30mins or so. These meatballs are so moist and juicy, they literally drink all of this herby stock. It's a real treat. Just before you're ready to serve add the remaining broad beans, 1 tbsp of lemon juice and another 1/2 tbsp of each of the herbs to freshen it all up a bit. Try and tell me it doesn't get any better than that. Now all of this writing has made me hungry. I'm off to the chippy.
Ingredients
olive oil
350g broad beans, fresh or frozen
4 sprigs of thyme
8 garlic cloves
8 spring onions
2 1/2 tbsp lemon juice
500ml chicken stock
300g beef mince
150g lamb mince
1 red onion
120g breadcrumbs
2 1/2 tbsp fresh parsley
2 1/2 tbsp fresh mint
2 1/2 tbsp fresh coriander
1 tbsp baharat spice mix
1 tbsp cumin
2 tsp capers
1 egg
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