A Light Touch for Meatballs
- fine or medium cracked wheat 1/2 cup (75g)
- raw beets 9 ounces (250g)
- a small to medium onion
- ground lamb 14 ounces (400g)
- garlic 2 large cloves, or even 3, crushed
- chopped dill 2 heaping tablespoons
- parsley a small handful, chopped
- a little peanut oil
- cucumber about a third of a medium one
- mint the leaves from 4 or 5 sprigs, chopped
- capers a tablespoon
- yogurt 3/4 cup (200g)
- Put the cracked wheat in a bowl, pour over enough boiling water to cover, then set aside to swell.
- Peel the beets and onion and grate them coarsely into a large bowl.
- Add the ground lamb, garlic, dill, parsley, and a generous grinding of salt and black pepper.
- Squeeze any water from the cracked wheat with your hands and add to the meat.
- Mix everything together thoroughly, then squish the mixture into little patties about the size of a flattened golf ball.
- Cover with plastic wrap (I do this tightly because the chopped garlic will taint everything in the fridge), then chill for at least an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 350F (180C).
- Make the dressing by grating the cucumber coarsely and leaving it in a colander, lightly sprinkled with salt, for half an hour.
- Squeeze it dry, then mix it with the chopped mint, capers, and yogurt.
- Season with salt and black pepper.
- Heat a nonstick pan, brush the patties with a little peanut oil, and fry until golden on both sides.
- Try not to move the meatballs very much when they are cooking; you risk them falling apart.
- Once they are lightly browned on both sides, carefully lift them into a baking dish and finish in a hot oven for fifteen to twenty minutes (incidentally, you can only tell if they are done by tasting one, as the beets give them a rich red color, making it impossible to gauge by sight whether they are cooked).
- Drizzle with the cucumber dressing and eat.
beets, onion, ground lamb, garlic, dill, parsley, peanut oil, cucumber, mint, capers
Taken from www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/a-light-touch-for-meatballs-381485 (may not work)