Lamb With Chickpeas, Tomato And Feta
- 1 pound dried chickpeas, soaked overnight (canned is ok)
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 parmesan rind
- 2 tablespoons kosher salt
- 2 dried dandicut peppers (or other dried chili)
- 28 ounces crushed tomatoes (best you can get)
- 1/3 cup golden raisins
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 pound ground lamb
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon ground corriander
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup diced yellow onion
- 2 tablespoons fresh mint, chopped
- 1/2 cup bread crumbs
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- crumbled feta
- 1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
- 1/4 cup fresh mint, chopped
- In a large stock pot, combine the chickpeas, bay leaf, parmesan rind, kosher salt and dried peppers. Cover with ~2 inches of water and bring to a boil. Cook until the chickpeas are tender, about 60-90 minutes depending on the age of the beans, altitude, etc. When they are done, remove from heat. If I am cooking them ahead of time, I leave them in the cooking liquid, but you don't have to. This will make more chickpeas that required for the recipe, but I've never found that to be too terrible a situation.
- In a small sauce pan, combine tomatoes, raisins, cinnamon stick, salt and pepper to taste and simmer over low heat while you make the meatballs.
- Gently combine the lamb, garlic, cumin, cayenne, coriander, salt, onion, mint and bread crumbs in a medium bowl (using your hands is best). Shape into small meatballs (about 1" in diameter). This should give you around 24 meatballs.
- Heat 1 T olive oil in a wide saute pan (at least 2" deep) over medium high heat. Cook the meatballs in two batches, 3 minutes per side on the top and bottom for a total of 6 minutes. Don't worry if they're not cooked all the way through - they will finish cooking in the tomato sauce. Remove meatballs to a paper towel lined plate. Do not clean out the pan.
- In the same pan used to cook the meatballs, add 2 cups cooked chickpeas and fry for a few minutes until somewhat browned. Add in the tomato sauce and the meatballs and reduce heat to medium low and simmer for 20 minutes. If the sauce gets a little tight, add some liquid (broth, water, chickpea cooking liquid).
- Spoon some of the mixture into a shallow bowl and top with toasted pine nuts, feta and chopped mint.
chickpeas, bay leaf, parmesan rind, kosher salt, peppers, tomatoes, golden raisins, cinnamon, ground lamb, clove garlic, ground cumin, cayenne pepper, ground corriander, kosher salt, yellow onion, fresh mint, bread crumbs, olive oil, feta, nuts, fresh mint
Taken from food52.com/recipes/68869-lamb-with-chickpeas-tomato-and-feta (may not work)