Lamb Meatballs with Minty Pesto

Here’s our first guest chef post courtesy of Ally’s mom! How this hasn’t happened before is mind-boggling because she is an amazing cook. Ally was super lucky to grow up with a mom who made homemade dinner essentially every night of the week. As a typical ungrateful teenager, Ally used to not appreciate this as much as she does now, instead being jealous of her friends who got to order pizza for dinner. But we definitely appreciate it now! Ally’s mom has a repertoire of her classic dinners that they ate growing up, that her kids salivate over now. But she also has started experimenting and trying new recipes, now that she doesn’t have four whiny kids to cook for every night.

Last night we were definitely the grateful beneficiaries of one of her new attempts. Hopefully it becomes a family classic because it was so delicious! The recipe originates with Bon Appetit magazine; she made very slight changes to that recipe. The meatballs are flavorful and juicy, and the pesto is an interesting change, with the minty flavor and a sharp bite of garlic. This dinner is also a nice option for a dinner party as it can be scaled up easily, it can be pre-assembled up until the point of rolling out and baking the meatballs, and it looks pretty!

Lamb Meatballs with Minty Pesto

(Adapted from Bon Appetit magazine)

Ingredients: 

• Meatballs
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 cup panko bread crumbs
  • 1/2 tsp cumin
  • 1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 tsp turmeric
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 1/4 cup fresh parsley, finely chopped
  • 1 lb ground lamb
• Pesto
  • 1 cup fresh parsley
  • 1 cup fresh mint
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 3 tbsp raisins
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/2 cup olive oil
• Greek yogurt for serving

Instructions: 

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
2. Whisk the egg together with all of the other meatball ingredients, except the lamb. Once combined, work the lamb in with your hands.
3. Meanwhile, combine all of the pesto ingredients in a food processor. Blitz until herbs are finely chopped and the sauce is well-combined. Taste and adjust salt as needed.
4. Using your hands, roll the meat into golf-ball-sized meatballs. [This should yield ~20 small meatballs.] Place the meatballs on a foil-lined cookie sheet.
5. Bake for 8-10 minutes, until browned.
6. Serve meatballs with pesto and a dollop of greek yogurt. Rice or couscous is a nice side to go with these meatballs.

Serves 3-4