I am shocked, shocked I tell you! that my children actually enjoyed this recipe.  I’m not sure why, perhaps they have given up all hope of enjoying a decent meal from my kitchen and now sullenly submit to my demands that they eat the goddamn food that I paid for and worked hard to put in front of them and it’s not like you do any chores around…  Ahem.  I got a little off track here.

Whatever the reason, they ate this one on my first attempt.

These are basically middle-eastern meatballs.  You can cut in other things with the meat, serve them in a variety of ways, whatever floats your boat.  (I rather enjoyed wrapping them in some naan with rice.)  It’s a meatball.  It’s the spices that make it.

The oven instructions are below.  We haven’t grilled them yet, but they should do great, just use a little grill-sense.  It’s a reasonably easy and fast recipe, ~20 minutes to prep and ~20 minutes to cook.

The recipe plus rice and other sides makes enough for 6-8 people.

Ingredients

• 2 pounds of ground beef – don’t get a lean mix!  80-85% seems good
  • mix in other ground meats as your fancy takes you, but you need some fats – don’t go too lean
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley, or 1/4 cup dried
• 1/2 small onion, diced fine
• 1 red bell pepper, diced fine
• Garlic, 3-4 minced cloves
• Paprika, 1 tsp
• Salt, 1 tsp
• Cumin, 1/2 tsp
• Pepper, 1/2 tsp

Directions

If you plan on skewering the meat, and you’re using bamboo or wood skewers, soak them in water for ~30 mins.

1. Preheat oven too 350°
2. Mix all the ingredients in a bowl (don’t overmix)
3. Form the mix into oblong patties, about kielbasa-thick
   • If you’re skewering, shove in the skewers now or form the patties around the skewers
4. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, or grill for ~20 minutes, flipping at least once
5. For the last couple of minutes turn on the broiler to brown the meat

Usual disclaimer with ground meat dishes: make sure the internal temp is at least 160° before serving.

Serve with some traditional middle-eastern sides, like:

• Naan bread
• Tabbouleh
• Cucumbers and cherry tomatoes
• Rice

Author: H Walker Jones, Esq

A professional programmer with a sordid past involving sysadmin, tech support, and cooking. View all posts by H Walker Jones, Esq