Saturday I was in the mood for something simple and dare I say inauspicious. There were some lovely tomatoes at Romeo’s and I felt comfortably deep enough into the summer to enjoy some nice bruschetta. I got the notion to proceed in this fashion- there’d be a giant loaf of bread in play, so why not just make a giant plate of summery food and just pick off of it until we were full? While acquiring the tomatoes, Elizabeth also found some Speck Ham (more on this later, I’m sure) she’d been wanting to try and that sealed the deal.
I had some ground lamb in my freezer, some shallots in the pantry and some leftover mint in the fridge for the week… I think you know where I’m heading with this one. I used panko instead of traditional breadcrumbs for the subsequent meatballs, but honestly I didn’t see a huge difference. I purged the pretty graffiti eggplant and rubbed with a mixture of soy sauce, honey and vinegar. I broiled them for a few minutes until soft.
Lamb meatballs
- 1 package ground lamb
- 2 finely chopped shallots
- 2 tbsp chopped fresh mint
- 1/2-3/4 cup breadcrumbs
- salt and pepper
The amount of breadcrumbs is up in the air due to moisture from the shallots and the meat. Add enough to make the mixture sticky but not too dry to work with. Mix everything by hand until homogeneous and then roll into spheres. Skewer and grill until 165 F inside.
Add some finely chopped garlic, lemon juice and salt to plain nonfat Greek yogurt for a quick yogurt sauce. Truly, slight and satisfying meal, perfect for a warm Saturday evening. Ciao!
The Manhattan [food] Project 