Name: Lamb meatballs with tahini and pine nut sauce
Prep time: 20 min
Cook time: 7 min
Total time: 27 min
Yield: 4
Ingredients: 2 tbsp olive oil; Sumac, torn mint leaves and lemon wedges, to serve; Lamb meatballs; 1 small red onion; 500 gm finely minced lamb; 2 garlic cloves, finely grated; 1 tsp ground cumin; ½ tsp ground allspice; Pine nut sauce; 50 gm pine nuts, coarsely crushed with a mortar and pestle, plus extra whole pine nuts to serve; 50 gm unhulled tahini; ½ garlic clove, finely grated; Finely grated rind of 1 lemon, juice of ½

This meatball recipe riffs on the Palestinian lamb siniyah, a dish of lamb baked with tahini. We’ve turned the lamb into meatballs and added crushed pine nuts to the tahini sauce for some more texture. To make this a full meal, try piling it all into flatbreads with sumac onions or serve a burghul salad on the side.

Ingredients

2 tbsp olive oil

Sumac, torn mint leaves and lemon wedges, to serve

Lamb meatballs

1 small red onion

500 gm finely minced lamb

2 garlic cloves, finely grated

1 tsp ground cumin

½ tsp ground allspice

Pine nut sauce

50 gm pine nuts, coarsely crushed with a mortar and pestle, plus extra whole pine nuts to serve

50 gm unhulled tahini

½ garlic clove, finely grated

Finely grated rind of 1 lemon, juice of ½

Method

1.To make meatballs, finely chop onion in a food processor, scraping down the sides occasionally (1-2 minutes), then add mince, garlic and spices, season to taste, and process until mixture comes together (30 seconds-1 minute). Roll into 12 balls (about 50gm each) with wet hands and refrigerate until required.

2.For pine nut sauce, whisk ingredients in a jug with 100ml water to combine and season to taste.

3.Heat oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat, add meatballs and cook, turning occasionally until browned all over and cooked to your liking (6-7 minutes for medium). Spoon pine nut sauce over meatballs in pan so it warms up a little, then sprinkle with sumac, top with mint and extra pine nuts and serve with lemon.

Maxwell Adey Senior Food Editor & Stylist

Maxwell has always been passionate about food. Born into a restaurateur and award-winning produce farming family, he was strongly steered into pursuing a career in advertising after completing his Bachelor of Public Communication at University of Technology, Sydney. After a very short stint, he decided to enrol in Commercial Cookery at TAFE to follow his true passion. Maxwell started out working in some of Sydney’s finest restaurants (Est., Claude’s and Moon Park) which helped further his love of all things culinary and developed his technical ability to cook. Later, he was lured into the magical world of food publishing where he freelanced for ten years for notable Australian commercial and editorial brands. He has also run his own business where he sells his marinated olives, dressings and sauces at food markets and select retailers. He excitingly joins the Gourmet Traveller team to bring his technical and creative expertise in food to the brand.

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Recipe / styling by Lisa Featherby

Ingredients

Method

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