I'm sure many of you fellow foodies get the occasional nagging craving that can't be cured by any other means than a proper cooking session with the right ingredients. In my case the problem often is that I don't exactly know what I want. A few days ago I was once again unsatisfied with my planned meal (I can't even remember what I was supposed to cook that day) until I realised I had to have meatballs, preferably simmered in a thick, hearty Italian tomato sauce.
Trivial, you may think, but not exactly for me. I've never been that big on pasta, and I rarely have it, unless you count the omnipresent bolognese (read: cafeteria food). The penne alla vodka of a couple of weeks ago was an exception.
I started a fierce googling session with search terms such as "best italian pasta", "marinara sauce", "italian meatballs" and so on. I read through heaps of recipes, many of them very tempting, and there were meatballs made of lamb among them too. Unfortunately every one of them called for something I didn't have, and I definitely wasn't in the mood for a shopping trip. Luckily one of the joys of cooking is improvising. I decided to use whatever I happened to have at hand.
What I had was 750 grams of lean minced lamb, 200 grams of Greek feta and half a packet of Shan Tikka Seekh Kabab mix. A seekh kabab is a minced meat kebab grilled on a skewer, so I reckoned the mix would do for meatballs too. It was my Indian friend Meena in Boston who introduced me to the wonderful world of Shan spice mixes, so thanks again, Meena! For the sauce the cupboard held a can of pasta sauce with olives and a kilo of crushed tomatoes. The Asian end of it gave up some kaffir lime leaves and a chunk of dried tamarind, the tough block that looks like dates and was left over from the bamia I made in January. The Indian in the meatballs is the spice mix, even if Shan is, I believe, a Pakistani brand, and the Thai in the sauce is the lime leaves.
The result deserves a drum roll: Antti's Fusion Meatballs with sepia-coloured spaghetti! The spaghetti is black because the dough is coloured with sepia, the ink of the cuttlefish.
I rolled the mince into small balls first and then cooked the sauce. I did not fry the meatballs at all. I layered them raw with the sauce in a deep baking dish and left them in the oven to braise. The recipe made five servings, so in a household of one there is food for several days.
Recipe card
Antti's Fusion Meatballs with Sepia-Coloured Spaghetti
- Serves 5
- Oven 175 °C (350 °F)
- Simmering the sauce 20-30 min
- In the oven 45-60 min
- Makes 30-40 meatballs
- Energy 540 kcal / serving
You will need
For the meatballs
| 750 g | lean minced lamb |
| 200 g | Greek feta, crumbled |
| 1 bunch | fresh parsley, chopped |
| 2 cm | fresh ginger, grated |
| 1/2 pkg | Shan Tikka Seekh Kabab BBQ Mix |
For the sauce
| 1 | big yellow onion |
| 4+ | cloves of garlic |
| 4 | fresh kaffir lime leaves, chopped (double if dried) |
| 1 can | (any) pasta sauce with olives |
| 1 kg | crushed tomatoes |
| some oregano | |
| some basil | |
| a pinch | sugar |
| 1 bunch | fresh coriander, chopped |
| a chunk of dried tamarind | |
| some olive oil | |
| salt and pepper to taste |
To serve
| black, sepia-coloured spaghetti | |
| grated Parmigiano Reggiano |
Method
- Preheat the oven to 175 °C (350 °F). Mix all the meatball ingredients well, making sure the spice mix is evenly distributed in the meat. Roll the mixture into small balls with your hands and set aside. Makes 30-40 meatballs.
- Heat a little olive oil in a pan and sauté the onion and garlic until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Add the rest of the listed ingredients and simmer over a medium heat for 20-30 minutes.
- When the sauce is ready, pour a little of it into a baking dish 10-15 cm deep. Add the meatballs and the sauce in layers until everything is in the dish and the meatballs are covered in sauce. Cook in the oven for 45-60 minutes.
- Serve on top of pasta with grated Parmigiano Reggiano.
I served the meatballs on top of the pasta with grated Parmigiano Reggiano. I really liked the contrast of the black pasta and the red sauce, and it is definitely worth trying. I love everything lamb (and goat), so the meatballs were good, in my opinion. The sauce was nice too, and I especially liked the aroma of the kaffir lime leaves and the tamarind. I'd be foolish to compare my dish with the tried and true Italian recipes many of you know, but I enjoyed eating mine, with all its tastes gathered from around the world.
6 comments
I thought you were craving for beef and not just any meat, Antti! 🙂
Nice exotic-sounding meatballs (kaffir lime leaves and tamarind!), although I'd pass on the black noodles (sepia isn't good for me. Neither are mussels, octopus, shrimps, calamari etc. I have no proof, but I just know:)
Pille: I love all meaty animals alike - anything with a face goes 😉 But I must confess cows have a special place in my heart and tummy. Or my waist. Hmmm.
Because of my stupid diet I've tried to cut back on fatty yet delicious cuts of meat, and thus eaten way too much fish, veggies etc. Nothing wrong with that though - veggie food can be and often is super good. But nonetheless I have recurring dreams of braised beef/lamb/goat/pork shanks (especially osso bucco), and various cheap cuts of pork, very slowly braised or roasted.
Back in the day in Boston during by Atkins period I often made pulled pork by cooking boned pork shoulders for 12 hours in a low temperature. Very, very tasty with good BBQ sauce in a sandwich, as a main course, or straight from the pot. *drools* 🙂
I knew you didn't fancy fish, but the rest of your list/confession breaks my heart!!! OK, calamari shares genes with a standard issue eraser, but mussels and octopi can be prepared to absolute perfection in both taste and texturewise. As soon as I can find a properly sized octopus in Helsinki (~1 kg), I'll make insalata di pulpo and worship-blog about it. Meanwhile I should experiment with baby octopi and marinate them.
Antti - I do fancy fish, as long there are no bones/glazy eyes/scales on sight! Cod, halibut, salmon, trout, haddock etc fillets are all fine with me (last night's lenten buns were preceded by seared trout fillets with dill&garlic crushed potatoes).
Your pulled pork dish sounds heavenly.
And I'm utterly sorry to break your heart. Didn't mean to:)
If persuaded, I might consider trying a scallop to start with. Maybe..
Pille, you're such a heart breaker! I got the first crack with the loss of the white apron, now this. The next blow will probably shatter whatever I've got left...
Calamari is not eraser! Say it with me!
I love all seafood and find myself but I luuuurrve lamb. That is some delicious lamb meatballs! Eclectic food from all over the world ... my favourite kind of cuisine.
WOW!!! Ive never seen spaghetti look like that!! How do you make it that way??