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Spiced Lamb Meatballs

  • Active Time

    50 minutes

  • Total Time

    50 minutes

Jim Lahey keeps these moist by adding grated boiled potato.

Ingredients

Makes about 30 meatballs

1/2 teaspoon caraway seeds
1/2 teaspoon coriander seeds
1/2 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 whole 2" dried chipotle chile or 2 teaspoons ground chipotle chiles
1 small (2 1/2"-3"-diameter) potato, peeled
1 pound ground lamb
1 tablespoon (heaping) minced scallion (white part only)
1 1/2 teaspoons finely grated Pecorino
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon finely grated peeled ginger
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Ingredient info: 墨西哥干辣椒(干、熏墨西哥胡椒)available at specialty foods stores and Latin markets.

Special Equipment

A spice mill
  1. Step 1

    Preheat broiler. Stir first 3 ingredients in a small dry skillet over medium heat until aromatic and slightly darker in color, about 2 minutes. Let cool; transfer to spice mill. Place chile on a baking sheet and broil, watching closely to prevent burning, just until it begins to puff up, about 1 minute. Cut chile in half; discard seeds and stem. Add chile (or ground chipotle chiles) to spice mill with toasted seeds; finely grind together.

    Step 2

    Meanwhile, place potato in a small saucepan; add cold water to cover. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer until just cooked through, about 10 minutes. Finely grate potato into a large bowl.

    Step 3

    Add chile mixture, ground lamb, and next 4 ingredients to bowl; mix with your hands until well combined. Form mixture into tablespoon-size (1"-diameter) meatballs.

    Step 4

    Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Cook meatballs, turning occasionally, until golden all over but still pink in center, about 6 minutes (meatballs will finish cooking onpizza).

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  • Just ok. They didn't have a lot of flavor. The potato is a lot of work for not much benefit and only 1.5 tsp of cheese doesn't add anything. It needs a lot more spices.

    • Anonymous

    • Burtonsville, MD

    • 7/28/2020

  • I just made these and they were delicious. I left out the pecorino because we are dairy-free and didn't miss it. These would be great on the grill as well. They were pretty fast and easy to make. We will have these again. Not sure what side dishes would be best but am thinking lots of spinach, greens, cucumber - along those lines. We had potato gnocchi and sautéed black kale.

    • Anonymous

    • lexington, ky

    • 3/8/2012

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