If you are from a Middle Eastern household, then I am positive you have had kufta before. This delicious spiced ground meat was a staple in our household growing up. The other day, I was making some gluten free pasta with a garlic olive oil sauce and I thought why not make the traditional kufta spiced meat but into meatball form to go along! It tasted amazing! The key in a good kufta recipe is actually a dash of cinnamon; cinnamon isn’t just used in sweets but great with red meat if used properly. I hope you enjoy this simple yet delicious quick dish!
Total Time: 30 minutes
Servings: approx. 25 meatballs
Ingredients
2 lbs ground lean ground beef
1 small onion
1 cup of cilantro
6 garlic cloves
1 tbsp all spice
1 tsp cumin
1 tbsp garlic powder
1 tbsp garlic powder
Salt & Pepper to taste
1 tbsp dried oregano
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp red pepper flakes
3 tbsp olive oil
Instructions
- In a food processor, blend the cilantro, garlic and onion with a tsp of olive oil.
- In a large bowl, add the ground beef. Add all the seasonings and the mixture from the processor. Salt & pepper the meat generously. Mix everything together.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Form them into meatballs. You can either use a cookie scooper or your hands to shape the meatballs. They will be more uniform with a scooper. I used a 1 1/2 tbsp scooper.
- Add the olive oil to a cast iron skillet. Place the meatballs in the skillet. Sear the meatballs on each side for 2-3 minutes to get a nice brown crust. Then bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or till cooked through.
- If you do not own a cast iron skillet, you can either skip the searing part or sear in a nonstick pan then place meatballs on a baking sheet. The best and easiest would to just have a pan that is oven proof like a cast iron.
- I’ll attach a link where you can purchase one below. I highly recommend owning one!
- [WooZoneProducts asin=”B00006JSUA”][/WooZoneProducts]
- You can serve this pasta or rice. Better yet, place in a pita and make a kebab sandwich with some fresh veggies and tahini sauce.
