Meatballs, as the word says itself, are made out of meat and come in a shape of a ball. Meatballs are minced meat plus spices. During decades different ingredients were added to the recipe. There are hundreds of varieties of meatballs nowadays; you can add an egg, bread crumbles, onion, garlic, butter, anything you think would taste good. My boyfriend and I were experimenting again. We decided to pick an ingredient that is not so obvious for this dish. As a result, we made Feta cheese meatballs with zucchini and figs. Yummy!
Here are the ingredients for ca 13 Feta cheese meatballs:
- 400 g minced beef
- 2 red onions
- 2 spring onions
- 1 big zucchini
- 4 cloves of garlic
- 2 tsp of red pepper powder
- 120 g Feta cheese
- 1 tsp vanilla salt with chilli flakes (you can use normal salt and add the chilli flakes)
- 2 Tsp of olive oil
- 100 g pine nuts
- 10 dried figs
- basil or parsley
- 250 g of Greek yoghurt
With a great team work, this recipe was done in no time. I prepared the meat mix for the meatballs, while my boyfriend cut the zucchini and figs and made the dip. In 20 minutes time, we were at the table enjoying the meal. And another great thing about making this dish is that you will use only one pan. Great, isn’t it?
Chop the garlic and onions (one onion for the meat, one onion for the zucchini). I don’t like them chopped in micro pieces. I like to see the pieces in the meat (you see that in the photo). In a bowl combine the minced beef, garlic, onion, salt and pepper powder. Mix with hand, until everything sticks together. Take the Feta cheese and grate it in the same bowl. You can also just crumble it. Again, with your hand mix all together (30 seconds). While I was making meatballs, my boyfriend put the pine nuts in a hot pan. When they’re golden brown take them out of the pan. Pine nuts take 2 minutes. I didn’t shape the meat in perfect round balls but in an oval and flat shape.
After that put the 2 Tsp of olive oil in the same pan and add the meatballs. They are flat so they won’t need a long time to cook. I turned them around after 3 minutes. The meatballs will release a lot of liquid but will still remain juicy. Furthermore, remove the meat from the pan and cover it with some aluminium foil.
Next step is to put the sliced zucchini and chopped onion in the same pan, with all the liquids from the meat. After 7 minutes add the figs (chopped in big chunks) and the pine nuts. Sprinkle with some salt and pepper. Cook for 3 more minutes. Before serving sprinkle some basil leaves or some parsley or fresh oregano over the zucchini.
In addition, mix 250 g of Greek yoghurt (it’s not so liquid) with the chopped spring onions to make a great, refreshing dip.
The 20 minutes are over and you should also be sitting at your table with Feta cheese meatballs, vegetables and a nice dip in front of you.
Enjoy!
