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!
• See larger image

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• 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.