Description
I love lamb, and once in a while I enjoy it in small, spherical portions.
Ingredients
- 1 eggplant, cubed
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
- ⅓ cup finely minced onion
- 1 pinch crushed red pepper flakes, or to taste
- 1 ½ cups chicken broth
- 1 cup marinara sauce
- ¼ cup plain dry bread crumbs
- 1 large egg
- 1 ½ tablespoons Greek yogurt
- ¼ cup finely minced onion
- 4 cloves garlic, finely minced
- 1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon ground cumin
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 pound ground lamb
- cayenne pepper to taste
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F (230 degrees C).
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or silicone baking mats.
- Combine eggplant
- olive oil
- salt and black pepper in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Cook and stir until eggplant begins to soften
- about 5 minutes.
- Mix in minced onion and red pepper flakes. Reduce heat to medium; cook and stir until onion softens
- 4 minutes.
- Stir in chicken broth and marinara sauce. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until sauce mixture has reduced by half
- about 30 minutes.
- Whisk bread crumbs
- egg
- and Greek yogurt in a large bowl until the bread crumbs absorb all the liquid
- about 3 minutes.
- Mix onions
- garlic
- Kosher salt
- black pepper
- cumin
- cinnamon
- and coriander into the bread crumb mixture.
- Crumble lamb into bread crumb spice mixture; stir in cayenne pepper.
- Form lamb mixture into small meatballs and transfer to prepared baking sheet. Place baking sheet into the preheated oven and bake until browned
- but still pink inside
- about 10 minutes.
- Remove meatballs from the oven and stir into simmering sauce. Simmer over low heat until sauce begins to thicken
- 30 to 45 minutes.
- Garnish with chopped fresh mint.
Prep Time: 25 mins
Cook Time: 1 hr 30 mins
Total Time: 1 hr 55 mins
Servings: 4