Meatballs With Grilled Pitas And Mint Yogurt Sauce Food

SPICED MEATBALLS WITH YOGURT SAUCE

Steps:

• In a large straight-sided skillet, heat 2 tablespoons oil over medium-high. Add onion, minced garlic, and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt; cook, stirring, until translucent, about 3 minutes. Add cumin and cinnamon and cook, stirring, about 1 minute more. Transfer mixture to the bowl of a food processor; process to a paste.
• In a bowl, combine breadcrumbs and 1/4 cup broth; let stand 5 minutes. Add beef, onion paste, whole egg, and cilantro; mix with your hands to combine. With lightly dampened hands, form mixture into 28 balls, about 2 tablespoons each.
• Heat remaining 2 tablespoons oil in skillet over medium-high. Working in batches (do not crowd pan), cook meatballs until browned on all sides, about 7 minutes a batch. Transfer to a plate; pour off fat from skillet. Return meatballs to pan; add 3/4 cup broth and sliced garlic. Bring to a boil, then cover, reduce heat to low, and simmer just until meatballs are cooked through, about 6 minutes. Transfer meatballs to a plate with a slotted spoon.
• In a bowl, whisk together egg yolks and yogurt. In another bowl, whisk together cornstarch and remaining 1/4 cup broth; whisk into broth in skillet. Bring to a boil, whisking constantly, then strain through a sieve into yogurt mixture, stirring to combine. Return to skillet and cook over medium, stirring constantly, until just bubbling and thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, about 1 minute; season with salt. Add meatballs to sauce and heat through. Serve over rice, sprinkled with sumac, red-pepper flakes, and cilantro.

SPANAKOPITA MEATBALLS WITH GREEK YOGURT SAUCE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a bowl combine 3 cloves of garlic and all of red onion EXCEPT 2 tablespoons, reserve 1 garlic clove and onion for yogurt sauce.
• Squeeze the water out of the spinach until completely dry. Separate the spinach as you add it to garlic and onion.
• Add feta, egg, breadcrumbs, ground beef, lamb and grill seasoning to the bowl. Mix and combine well.
• Form mixture into 1 1/2-inch, bite-sized meatballs. Place the meatballs on a nonstick cookie sheet. ***At this point you could refrigerate until ready to bake.
• Bake meatballs at 375 degrees for 20 minutes until they are cooked through.
• To make the sauce, place yogurt, 1 garlic clove, 2 Tablespoons onion, cucumber, dill, lemon juice, oregano and a little salt in food processor and process until smooth. Adjust seasonings to taste and transfer to a serving bowl. Serve meatballs alongside sauce with toothpicks.