Greek-style Lamb Meatballs
Everybody knows Swedish meatballs from IKEA. They have a danish cousin, they are not round but more flat and fried on a skillet in butter.
Growing up with moms meatballs, hard on the outside and soft on the inside, not my cup of tea. The taste was good, but texture-vise I needed something else. My moms meatballs was made with all-purpose flours as the starch component. But one of my friends said to try using rolled oats instead, and it made a big difference.
My old aunt from Jutland also taught me some of her secrets to good meatballs. You start by mixing the meat with salt, this makes some of the meat proteins water soluble, which acts like a emulsifier. She always tasted the meat to see if it needed more salt, I wouldn't recommend this. Try to fry up a small meatball to taste it.
Divide the meat in quarters, lift one quarter up unto the other quarters. Fill the missing quarter with rolled oats. Put in finely chopped or grated onions, the eggs, milk salt and pepper and mix until you have a cohesive meat mixture. I use the same directions for these lamb meatballs
I like to experiment with the classic recipes, and wanted to try out a greek take on the danish meatballs. What makes these greek? Making them with lamb and adding garlic, feta, olives, roasted tomatoes and rosemary gave them a greek twist.
My husband loves these especially when I serve them with tzatziki and orzo salad.
Makes 30 meatballs
Ingredients:
The Ingredients.
1 kg (2 lb.) ground lamb meat
rolled oats
2 eggs
2 medium onions
⅓ cup milk
¼ cup roasted garlic
2 garlic cloves (fresh)
¼ cup pitted kalamata olives
75 g feta cheese
¼ cup roasted tomatoes
2 sprigs rosemary
1½ teaspoons salt
pepper
Butter and oil for frying
Directions:
The Process.
Mix the meat with salt. Divide the meat in quarters, lift one quarter up unto the other quarters. Fill the missing quarter with rolled oats. Put in finely chopped or grated onions, the eggs, milk, salt and pepper and mix until you have a cohesive meat mixture. Add the chopped rosted garlic, fresh garlic, olives, feta cheese roasted tomatoes and rosemary.
Place a skillet over medium-high heat. Melt a couple of table spoons of butter in the skillet
Forming the meatballs dip a tablespoon in the melted butter and scoop up a good spoonful meat. Use the hand and the spoon to form the meatball. The meatball should be oval an the size of a small egg. Placed the meatball in the skillet, repeat until you have a full skillet. Be careful not to let the meatballs touch each other.
Fry the meatball for about 3 to 5 minutes on each side, until they are well-browned and no longer pink in the center. Depending how big the meatballs are and how hot your pan is the time may vary. When done remove the meatballs onto a plate, and set aside.
If you have a more meat mixture in the bowl, clean the skillet with a kitchen towel and add new butter and fry another batch.
The Danish Version
Græske lammefrikadeller
Ingredienser:
1 kg hakket lammekød
havregryn
2 æg
2 løg
3/4 dl mælk
en lille håndfuld ristede hvidløgsfed
2 hvidløsfed (friske)
en lille håndfuld kalamata oliven
75 g feta
en lille håndfuld semi dried tomater
2 kviste rosemarin
1,5 tsk salt
pepper
smør og olie til stegningen
Bland kødet med salt. Del kødet i kvarte, løft en fjerdedel op op de andre. Fyld den manglende fjerdedel med havregryn. Tilsæt finthakket eller revet løg, æg, mælk, salt og peber og bland indtil du har en sammenhængende fars. Tilsæt den hakkede ristede hvidløg, frisk hvidløg, oliven, feta, ristede tomater og rosmarin, bland det godt.
Smelt et par spiseskefulde smør på en stegepande, tilsæt lidt oile.
Brug hånden og skeen til at forme frikadellerne . Frikadellerne skal være ovale, på størrelse med en lille æg . Steg frikadellerne i omkring 3 til 5 minutter på hver side, indtil de er godt brunet og ikke længere rå inden i. Stegetiden varierer afhængig af størrelsen på frikadellerne, og hvor varmt din stegepande er.