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Meatballs with Tahini and Tomatoes
Every culture has its own version of meatballs. In Israel, people love to add the creamy, rich, and non-dairy tahini sauce to their meatballs. The texture and flavors are amazing together! Here is a relatively simple recipe to try making tahini meatballs at home.
Ingredients
For the meatballs:
Ground beef
2 Pounds
Medium onion, minced or grated
1 Pcs.
Eggs, whisked
2 Pcs.
Chopped parsley
1/2 Cup
Ground Cumin
1 Tsp
Ground allspice
1/4 Tsp
Dead sea Salt
1 Tsp
Freshly ground black pepper
to taste
Garlic, minced
8 Cloves
Bread crumbs
1/2 Cup
Halved cherry tomatoes
1 Cup
Israeli Olive oil
3 Tbsp
For the tahini sauce:
Tahini
1.5 Cup
Lemon juice
4 Tbsp
Cold water
1 Cup
Garlic, minced
1 Tbsp
Dead sea Salt and pepper
to taste
Instructions
1 Step
First, make the meatballs. Place chopped beef in a large bowl. Add grated onion, eggs, parsley, garlic, all dried seasonings and bread crumbs. Mix meat gently until well-integrated. Do not over-mix. (Grated onion integrates better into meatballs than chopped onion. Be sure to use the juice that collects when grating.The extra liquid helps to keep meatballs soft.)
2 Step
Form into meatballs, rolling between your palms and dampening your hands if the meat sticks. Flatten meatballs with the back of a tablespoon to facilitate more even cooking.
3 Step
Heat oil to medium/high in a large cast iron or nonstick pan.
4 Step
Fry meatballs 3-4 minutes or until lightly browned. Turn and brown the second side. Do not crowd meatballs in the pan. Fry in 2-3 batches as needed. Remove meatballs to a paper towel-lined plate.
5 Step
Next, make the tahini sauce. Whisk all ingredients together in a large bowl until well blended. The texture should be very loose, almost watery.
6 Step
Next, preheat the broiler.
7 Step
In an ovenproof casserole pour 1 cup blended tahini into the bottom of the pan (or pans) and nestle meatballs into pans. Meatballs should be in one layer. Pour remaining tahini over the meatballs.
8 Step
Place chopped tomatoes on top of meatballs and scatter into the tahini. Place under the broiler for 3-4 minutes until tomatoes begin to sizzle.
9 Step
Serve meatballs directly from the oven, sprinkled with remaining parsley and some lemon zest (if desired).