Meatballs two ways and all the sides...

I'm not a massive meatball fan but my friend Sophie had this place on her list of restaurants to try... Who am I to argue and I'm really glad I didn't. Great food, great company. Sadly this restaurant Ball Bros doesn't exsit anymore, which is such a shame!


Ingredients (Serves 2)


For the Beef Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

2 tbsp Olive oil

2 Spring onions, finely chopped

200g Beef Mince

1 Medium egg

A handful of plain flour

200g Chopped tomatoes (1 tin)

1 tsp ground cumin

1 tbsp Tomato puree

 

Method

  1. Put 1 tbsp of oil into a non stick pan, add the spring onion and cook for about 5 mins until soft. Remove from the heat and set aside to cool.

  2. Put the mince and half the onion into a large bowl. In a small bowl, lightly whisk the egg with a fork, then add to the meat & onion. Season and mix everything together with your hands.

  3. Divide the mixture into 4-6 balls. Sprinkle the flour onto a plate and roll each meatball into the flour. Chill for 10 minutes.

  4. Heat the remaining oil in the pan, add the meatballs and cook then for 5 minutes. Try not to move them around though! Now, using tongs carefully turn them over and cook for another 5 minutes.

  5. Mix in the tomatoes, cumin, tomato puree, and then stir spring onions. Now add to the pan with the meatballs. Cover & cook gently for 25 minutes, or until the meatballs are cooked.


For the Lamb & Feta Meatballs

2 tbsp Olive oil

2 Garlic cloves, crushed

250g lamb mince

20g fresh mint, finely chopped. Plus extra to garnish

1 egg

100g feta cheese

25g Pine nuts, lightly toasted

 

Method

  1. Put 1 tbsp of oil into a non stick pan on a medium heat, then add the garlic. When the garlic starts to cook, add the tomatoes and a generous season of fresh pepper. Cook and reduce down for about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool

  2. In a bowl, mix together the lamb the herbs. Add the egg, season and mix it all together with your hands. Once its all combined, crumble in the feta cheese then divide the mixer into 10, and cool into balls

  3. Now the sauce has cooled, remove the skin from the tomatoes, and blitz to make a smooth sauce

  4. Heat the remaining tbsp of oil in a large frying pan. Get the oil nice and hot, then add the meatballs. Cool for around 6 minutes. Don’t worry too much if they start to fall apart… Adds to the character of the dish! Now add the sauce and continue to cook for another 2-3 minutes

  5. Tip the meatballs into a serving dish, scatter over the remaining feta cheese, and garnish with the lightly toasted pine nuts and some extra mint leaves. Now serve


For the chips….

1 large baking potato

salt

3x Springs of Thyme

Rapeseed Oil

 

Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 200C

  2. Wash the potato and pat dry. Leaving the skin on and chop the potato into thin chips

  3. Pop onto an oven tray, add a glug of rapeseed oil, the thyme, and a generous pinch of salt, then mix it all together with your hands

  4. Put into the oven and cook for 40-50 minutes, until golden brown


Serve with a salad of our choice. I served mine with a griddled courgette and goats cheese salad.... Yum!


Here's a couple of photos of the food we ate -