If you’ve been here a while, you know that we’re fans of Mediterranean inspired ingredients~ lots of vegetables, fresh herbs, warming spices, lemon zest, aromatics like ginger and garlic to help weeknight meals elevated and nourished. These meatballs are riffed from Ottolenghi’s cookbook. I simplified the recipe with a version that seems do-able for a weekend dinner. This recipe is written for ground chicken, sub in lamb or even turkey in its place depending on your preference.
Now the “sauce”! it is a roundup of one classic Mediterranean dip~ tahini, charred eggplant, chickpeas and greek yogurt along with the usual suspects garlic, lemon juice, cumin etc. I was a little hesitant of the combination at first, but everyone liked it and actually tasted great. I served this with some pita to mop up, freshness from spring greens, sliced radishes, cucumber and pickled veggies! The latter is for some briny crunch in addition to make it a nutritious meal.
Tip
You don’t have to make the dip as written aka with all the different components, just a regular tahini sauce works really well. I happened to have some charred eggplant that needed to be used up so I combined a bunch of things to make the sauce.
Zaatar Meatballs with Mediterranean Sauce
Ingredients
- 1 lb ground chicken/turkey/lamb or your choice cooking times vary, this is written for chicken
- 1 egg, whisked
- 1 slice bread or 2 tbsp bread crumbs
- 2 tbsp Za'atar or use 1/2 cup chopped parsley
- 1 medium onion, chopped or grated
- 2-3 cloves garlic chopped
- ½ tsp ground cardamom
- ½ tsp ground all spice
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp aleppo or any mild red chilli pepper like paprika
- 2 tbsp e.v olive oil or as needed
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp sea salt
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper or as needed
Dip
- ⅓ cup runny tahini
- 1 cup cooked chickpeas
- 1 roasted eggplant optional
- 2-3 cloves garlic
- ¼ cup lemon juice
- ⅓ cup greek yogurt
- ⅓ cup iced water
- ½ tsp sea salt or as needed
- e. v olive oil as needed
- 2 tbsp mixed herbs~ dill, parsley, mint
Add Ons
- pickled veggies
- roasted veggies optional
- sliced onions, cucumber radishes,
- lemon slices
- toasted pita
Instructions
- Add the onion, garlic, and parsley(if using) to a food processor and pulse until they are finely minced. You can also do this by hand if you'd like, just make sure everything is very finely chopped.
- Preheat the oven to 400℉.
- In a mixing bowl add the breadcrumbs, half the olive oil, whisked egg, the onion mixture, ground meat, allspice, cardamom, paprika, za'atar, cumin, red chilli peppers, kosher salt and pepper. Using your clean hands mix it all together just enough so its well combined.Roll the meatballs. roll the meat mixture into small balls, just slightly larger than the size of a golf ball. Arrange them on the prepared sheet pan without touching. Spray or brush with the remaining olive oil.
- Place in the oven and bake, turning over halfway through, until the meatballs are lightly browned and the center is no longer pink, 15 to 18 minutes. Cooking times are for ground chicken, you may need to add a few more minutes for lamb, beef and turkey.
The Dip
- In a food processor, add the garlic and chickpeas to mince, I do this so the garlic and chickpeas are finely chopped and so they're even through the dip and not in chunky pieces.
- Next add the tahini, yogurt, lemon juice, cumin, charred eggplant if using and blend until smooth, add some iced water to help thin and smooth.
- Transfer to a bowl or platter, garnish with chopped herbs, e.v olive oil to serve.
- Serve meatballs, dip, pickled veggies, chopped veggies, toasted pita and lemon wedges.
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