Mini Meatballs with Fresh Herbs & Lemon - Recipe

Serves

Prep in

20 minutes

Cooks in

35 minutes

This recipe links to the post ‘Saying Sayonara to Salt and Hello to Herbs’.

There are numerous things to get excited about when it comes to these brilliantly beautiful botanicals. There is the sheer number of guises that they appear in, the ease with which you can grow them yourself (if you so desire) in addition to the fact that they taste great and all have their own particular applications as natural medicines. Their use in this way dates back thousands of years and is seen in a variety of cultures. By including them into your diet you will only be making positive leaps. If this then goes hand in hand with a decrease in your consumption of processed seasonings, then my goodness you really are winning (and may be aiding other niggles or issues you may not have even realised!).

These mini meatballs are a celebration of how herbs can be used in food, with a plentiful array in both the meatballs themselves and the deliciously satisfying sauce.

Key Facts

Full Of Flavour
Delicious & Nutritious
Gluten Free
Family Friendly

Ingredients

1/2 tablespoon coconut oil
200g tenderstem broccoli
200g green beans
200g asparagus
4 whole thyme sprigs
2 garlic cloves, grated
1 medium leek, finely chopped
1 tablespoons lemon zest
500ml organic chicken or vegetable stock
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper or to taste
1 1/2 teaspoon chopped flat-leaf parsley, mint, dill and coriander, to finish

For the meatballs

400g minced beef or lamb
1 medium leek, very finely chopped
2 tablespoons each chopped flat-leaf parsley, mint and coriander
2 large garlic cloves, crushed
1 teaspoon baharat spice mix
2 teaspoon ground cumin
2 teaspoons capers, finely chopped
1 teaspoon grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preparation

01

Melt 1/2 teaspoon of coconut oil in a large pan, add the finely sliced leek and grated garlic, cook gently until slightly softened then put in a large bowl and leave to cool.

02

Meanwhile prep the leeks and garlic for the sauce. Once your sweated garlic and leeks are cool add the rest of the ingredients for the meatballs to bowl, mix well (easiest to do with your hands) then form mini meatballs. (If you try and make these when the garlic & leek are still hot your meatballs won’t hold together.)

03

Heat the rest of the coconut oil in the same pan, add the meatballs and quickly brown over a high heat. Remove from the pan then add your leeks and garlic for the sauce. Sweat gently until soft then add your stock, lemon zest and pop the meatballs back in. Cover and leave to simmer gently for 15 minutes then remove the lid.

04

If eating straight away add your green beans, broccoli and asparagus, recover and cook very gently for another 5 minutes until they are tender. If you are planning to freeze some of the meatballs it’s better to add the veggies fresh when you reheat them.