There’s nothing like a flavorful, exotic dinner, let alone an easy, flavorful, exotic dinner. And this is just that! Be ready to have your mind and your taste buds blown people!! Here is my recipe for:

Mediterranean Lamb Meatballs with Yoghurt Sauce and Chickpea and Rocket Salad

Ingredients:

Meatballs

• 500g lamb mince
• 1/2 red onion
• 4 mint leaves, chopped
• A few stems of coriander (or cilantro depending on where in the world you are)
• 1 clove of garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon ground coriander
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
• 1 teaspoon fine salt

Yoghurt Sauce

• 200g unsweetened (natural) Greek youghurt
• 8 mint leaves, chopped
• A small handful of coriander leaves (cilantro)
• Zest of 1 lemon, grated
• Salt and pepper to taste

Chickpea and Rocket Salad

• 1 can chickpeas
• 1/2 teaspoon chili flakes
• 1 teaspoon oil
• Zest of 1 lemon, grated
• Salt

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 190C (or 375F).

2. Drain the chickpeas and place into a baking dish. Pour over the oil, sprinkle over the salt, lemon zest and chili flakes, then stir to make sure the chickpeas are all covered with the seasonings. Then put in the oven. Making sure to check on them every 5 minutes or so, just to toss chickpeas in the dish to ensure even browning.

3. While the chickpeas are roasting, place all the ingredients for the meatballs in a medium sized bowl, and mix until evenly combined. It gets a little messy, but it’s easiest to use your hands to do this.

4. When all combined, roll into small balls (just smaller than a tablespoon) and place on a lightly greased baking tray. Then put this in the oven (same oven as the chickpeas is fine). The meatballs will take anywhere from 10-15 minutes to cook, depending on the size.

5. In a small bowl, mix together the ingredients for the yoghurt sauce while the meatballs and chickpeas are in the oven. Taste the sauce to check you are happy with the seasoning (pro tip).

6. Put the rocket leaves on a plate, and then remove the chickpeas from the oven when they are nice and golden brown. Sprinkle these on top of the rocket leaves.

7. Take the meatballs out of the oven, and make sure they are cooked all the way through (no longer pink inside) and then put these on your plate. Cover the meatballs with your yummy yoghurt sauce, or put it on the side. The yoghurt sauce also works really nicely with your rocket leaves as well.

Side note: if you want to, these also work really well in a pita pocket!

Enjoy 🙂