Spiced Lamb & Cranberry Meatballs with Cucumber & Feta Recipe

Item: Spiced Lamb & Cranberry Meatballs with Cucumber & Feta
Author: Mons Flavors

Spiced Lamb & Cranberry Meatballs with Cucumber & Feta

Prep time:
10 mins

Cook time:
20 mins

Total time:
50 mins

Ingredients:

MEATBALLS

1 large onion, finely diced

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1 tbsp. Mon’s Flavors Freedom spice blend

450g lamb mince

8g fresh parsley, finely chopped (plus extra, to serve)

6g fresh mint leaves, finely chopped (plus extra, to serve)

1 egg

1 tbsp. dried cranberries, finely chopped (plus extra, to serve)

¼ cup breadcrumbs

½ tsp salt

DRESSING

¼ cup lemon juice

¼ cup olive oil

½ tsp Mon’s Flavors Freedom spice blend

¼ tsp salt

TO SERVE

2 cups hummus, labneh or Greek yoghurt

½ medium cucumber

50g feta, diced

1 tbsp lemon zest

Aren’t we always in a hunt of a good meatball recipe ? Well if anyone who is keen to get a good flavorful recipe then I promise your hunt is over, also I have to share one of my experiences of having meatballs for the first time in New Zealand, back then I used to eat meat, and we had just moved to New Zealand and we were invited to our first potluck Christmas Party where everyone was raving about these lamb meatballs and were served with a thick tomato gravy of some sort and I have to be very honest I wasn’t very impressed with the flavors, may be its a just an Indian palette which is so used to depth of flavors but I also have to admit proudly that my grandfather used to make one of the best tender succulent meatballs packed with some wonderful spices and dunked into a steaming delicious sauce. Unforgettable precious memories I would say ! Since I still salivate for those flavors I had to create a good meatball recipe for my website using my favorite versatile blend and gave a modern twist to this dish, can’t promise that this recipe is as tasty as my grandfather one but can vouch on my words adding Freedom Spice blend to this recipe will take your experience of making a simple meatballs dish to creating and tasting a great depth of flavors without spending hours of cooking. I am sure you and your family will love making these this Christmas. Do share your feedback in the comment section.

Method:

In a large frying pan, heat a drizzle of oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes or until fragrant and beginning to brown.

Remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl, along with remaining ingredients. Stir to fully combine.

Shape the meat into 12 meatballs – you will need roughly ¼ cup of the meat mixture per meatball. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.

To cook, heat 2 tbsp. oil in a large pan over medium-high heat. Depending on the size of your pan, you will probably need to cook in 2 batches. Add half of the meatballs to the pan, evenly spacing them. Cook for 10 minutes, turning often, until browned on all sides.

Remove from pan and keep warm while you cook the rest, adding more oil as necessary.

Meanwhile, using a vegetable peeler, peel the cucumber into long, thin ribbons. Make the dressing by whisking all ingredients together in a small bowl.

To assemble, spread hummus, labneh or Greek yoghurt on a serving platter. Top with cucumber ribbons, followed by the meatballs and feta. Drizzle over the dressing. Sprinkle over a handful of cranberries, herbs and lemon zest, and serve.

Notes:

In this recipe I have served it with my hummus dip but you can serve it with carrot and beetroot dip as well . Recipe is on my website for the dips

You can make freedom spice blend sauce ( recipe on my website ) and take this to another level of flavors

You can shape these meat balls into patties and make burger or slider burgers as well. No need to buy extra dips to create depth of flavors , you have all the recipes on my website.

This recipe can be easily made into a vegetarian dish, I would use grated cauliflower, broccoli, potatoes to make vegetarian balls or choose vegetables according to your liking.

THIS RECIPE :

Makes 12 meatballs

10 minutes prep time

10-20 minutes cook time, plus 30 minutes resting

50-60 minutes total time