Greek Meatballs

Who doesn't love meatballs? Whether spooned over pasta, stuffed into hoagie rolls or served simply with toothpicks, meatballs are always a crowd pleaser. While there's absolutely nothing wrong with the classic Spaghetti & Meatballs, I thought I might put a little Greek spin on my traditional recipe.

When I think "Greek," a few key ingredients come to mind... salty feta, briny olives, and bright herbs. So I got to noodling on how best to incorporate some of these delicious flavors into saucy meatballs.

The meatball mixture is fairly traditional... egg, bread crumbs, cheese... but amped up with tons of fresh parsley, basil and especially mint.

To keep things simple, I started with a prepared jar of marinara sauce, but simmered it together with some red onions and a handful of kalamata olives. Depending on your preference, you can leave the olives whole or chop them up before adding to the sauce.

And then finally, I went to town on the garnishes... crumbled feta cheese, more fresh parsley, basil and mint... And the quirky little topper: frazzled capers and garlic! The fried capers and garlic add both amazing Mediterranean flavor and tasty texture on top of these meatballs.

I'm serving these Greek Meatballs over some rotini noodles for dinner. Really, any short pasta - rigatoni, farfalle, penne - would work wonderfully! Alternatively, these meatballs would make for a really delicious party app. The recipe is easy to double or triple and keep warm in a crockpot. Maybe serve with a bit of crusty garlic bread for dunking...? Yum!

Greek Meatballs

Ingredients

For the meatballs

· 1 tbsp olive oil

· ¼ red onion, diced fine

· 1 garlic clove, minced

· 1/3 cup bread crumbs

· 1/3 cup pecorino romano cheese, grated

· 1 tbsp tomato paste

· 1 tbsp fresh parsley, minced

· 1 tbsp fresh basil, minced

· 1 tsp fresh mint, minced

· 1 egg

· ½ tsp salt

· ¼ tsp black pepper

· 1lb lean ground lamb, beef or turkey

For the sauce

· 2 tbsp olive oil

· ¾ red onion, sliced

· 3 garlic cloves, minced

· 24oz prepared marinara sauce

· 1/8 tsp crushed red pepper

· 1/3 cup pitted kalamata olives, drained and chopped

· 2oz feta cheese, crumbled

· 1 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped

· 1 tbsp fresh basil, chopped

· 1 tsp fresh mint, minced

For the frazzled capers

· 2 tbsp olive oil

· 2 tbsp capers, drained

· 1 large garlic clove, sliced very thin

Preheat oven to 425F.

For the meatballs…Add olive oil to a small pan and sautee onions and garlic over low heat until translucent. Allow to cool.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the onions, garlic, bread crumbs, cheese, tomato paste, herds, egg, salt and pepper. Add the ground meat. Fold the bread crumb mixture evenly into the meat.

Using a small cookie scoop, spoon the meatball mixture onto a greased baking sheet. The mixture should make roughly 18-20 bite-sized meatballs. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes until cooked through.

While the meatballs cook, prepare the sauce…

For the sauce… heat olive oil in a deep skillet or braiser pan over medium low heat. Sautee the sliced onions and garlic until the onions are translucent and begin to soften. Add the marinara sauce, crushed red pepper and olives. Stir to combine and bring to a simmer.

Add the cooked meatballs to the sauce. Simmer the meatballs in the sauce on low for at least 30 minutes. Keep warm until ready to serve.

Just before serving, prepare the frazzled capers.

For the frazzled capers… heat olive oil in a small pan over medium low heat. Add the capers and sliced garlic. Fry until fragrant and the garlic is golden brown. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and allow to drain on a plate lined with paper towels.

Garnish the meatballs with the crumbled feta, fresh parsley, basil and mint, as well as the frazzled capers and garlic. Ladle over your favorite pasta noodle or serve simply with crusty bread.

Serves 4

GF Friendly

Gluten Free Friendly!

Swap the bread crumbs for gluten free bread crumbs!