Eating Around the World | Greek Meatballs with Tzatziki

“Food is a central activity of mankind and one of the single most significant trademarks of a culture.” -Mark Kurlansky

In this new series of posts, I’m excited to share recipes with you that will bring the world’s cuisines into your kitchen. These recipes, from my favorite cookbooks and online food bloggers, take my taste buds back to places I’ve visited and spark great dinner conversations about “that fabulous dinner we ate in ____” or “that delicious lunch we shared while overlooking the ____.” My hope is that you will give these recipes a try for yourself and be inspired to plan your next adventure. Make sure to click “Follow” to ensure you don’t miss a post!
With the month of love approaching, I decided to kick off this “Eating Around the World” series with a dish that reminds me of my summer 2015 Grecian honeymoon – lamb meatballs with tzatziki.

I used a recipe from The Defined Dish, one of my go-to food blogs run by two sisters for easy, healthy weeknight meals, to make my lamb meatballs and tzatziki sauce.  Click here for the recipe. While I decided to go with the Whole30 version since it’s January and all, you can also cook a more traditional lamb meatball using this recipe that adds feta cheese, an egg and breadcrumbs.
To get started, I whipped up the tzatziki, which is a refreshing, light yogurt-based sauce with tons of cucumber bits, fresh dill and mint. While the recipe calls for homemade mayo, I prefer traditional Fage Greek yogurt instead. If yogurt isn’t your thing, you could also top your lamb meatballs with a Greek-inspired tomato sauce using this recipe.
Tzatziki ingredients:   

• 1 cup Fage yogurt
• 1/2 cup peeled, seeded, and diced cucumber
• 1 tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 heaping tbsp. freshly chopped mint
• 1 tbsp. freshly chopped dill
• kosher salt and black pepper, to taste

To combine, I added the tzatziki ingredients to my Cuisinart food processor and pulsed it on low until the sauce was blended. Once I got to the consistency I wanted, I funneled the sauce into a mason jar and threw it in the fridge until my meatballs were ready to go. H|B tip: I dipped carrots and pita bread into the leftover tzatziki sauce the next day as part of my lunch. Yum!

Now for the star of the show – the lamb meatballs. I used my clean hands to combine the ingredients listed below into ~20 1.5″ meatballs. H|B tip: I tend to like things on the spicier side so I doubled the red pepper flakes and added 1/2 a teaspoon to the mix.
Lamb meatball ingredients:   

• 2 lbs. ground lamb
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/4 tsp. dried oregano
• 1 heaping tbsp. finely chopped mint
• 1 heaping tbsp. finely chopped parsley
• 1/4 tsp. red pepper flakes
• kosher salt, to taste
• black pepper, to taste
• 1/2 zest of a lemon

H|B tip: If you don’t have these multi-color flexi cutting boards, you’re missing out. I use the red one (as pictured above) for red meat, yellow for poultry, green for vegetables and white for everything else to prevent the cross-contamination of food.
To cook the meatballs, I heated a few tablespoons of olive oil over medium-high heat in my large saute pan, reduced the heat to medium and cooked the meatballs for 4 minutes. Then I flipped them and cooked them for 4 more minutes as the recipe dictates. I then put the lid on my pan, reduced the heat to medium-low and cooked the meatballs for 10 minutes. H|B tip: To ensure my pan is hot, I’ll throw a few droplets of water onto it and make sure the oil sizzles.
While Alex and Mada of The Defined Dish served their meatballs with cherry tomatoes, red onion and diced cucumber, I served mine over a bed of spring mix with roasted carrots, feta cheese and fresh lemons. This dish is incredibly versatile and would also go well with Greek olives, tomato slices, white rice or pita bread.

My husband and I thought this recipe was delicious! It took us back to the similar meals we ate at Metaxy Mas and Anogi in Santorini, and of course the amazing Arygyros Assyrtiko white wine we fell in love with there! Ahh, if only we could teleport and be in Greece again..

If I’ve inspired you to plan a trip to Greece, checkout my Santorini guide here (Naxos guide coming soon). Bon appetit! And in Greek – Καλή όρεξη!
XO, HUTTON B.