I recently cooked for a winery event where we provided a bite-sized portion of food paired with our showcased wine which was a pinot noir. We chose to make lamb meatballs. It was a good choice with the onset of fall and rain in the wine country. I would not call this a fine dining appetizer, but it's a step up from the typical meatball with some atypical ingredients that combine for interesting flavors and a fun app to serve for an informal gathering. The meatball was served with Vin cotto, which in Italian means "cooked wine." It's an intensely rich, dark sauce that you should use judiciously, but used in correct proportion, adds a nice flavor to the meatball. You can find it at an Italian market or online VinCotto at Amazon. You can make a substitute form of it by reducing 2 cups red wine, 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar, and 2TBS of flavored dark fruit syrup like pomegranate or cherry syrup until the wine is reduced to a syrup. True vin motto is made from the grape must (the grape juice before fermentation) and lees (leftover grape seeds, skins after grapes are pressed) boiled down for 24 hours into a syrup and then placed in a barrel with a mother vinegar to age for 4 years.
Ingredients:
24 Servings
1 Lb ground lamb
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
1/4 Cup shallots, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground coriander
2 eggs
1/4 cup of bread crumbs (plain, no seasoning)
1/4 preserved lemon, finely chopped (buy your own or follow my recipe :Preserved Lemons)
1/4 cup pistachios, toasted and roughly chopped
1/4 cup olives, chopped
vin cotto for dirzzle
Directions:
Preheat Oven to 500
1. In a sauté pan heat olive oil on Med heat. cook garlic and shallots until translucent.
2. Add pepper, salt, and coriander and cook for 1 minute
3. transfer to a cool plate
4. In a large bowl, scramble the eggs with a fork, then add the cooled shallot mixture
5. Add the lamb to the egg mixture along with the bread crumbs, lemon, pistachios, and olives. Mix thoroughly until evenly incorporated.
6. Roll into bite sized meat balls.
7. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for approximately 10-12 minutes. The internal temperature should be 160 degrees.
8. Place on a toothpick or skewer and lightly drizzle with the vin cotto.
24 Servings
1 Lb ground lamb
1/4 Cup Olive Oil
1/4 Cup shallots, finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1/4 tsp pepper
2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground coriander
2 eggs
1/4 cup of bread crumbs (plain, no seasoning)
1/4 preserved lemon, finely chopped (buy your own or follow my recipe :Preserved Lemons)
1/4 cup pistachios, toasted and roughly chopped
1/4 cup olives, chopped
vin cotto for dirzzle
Directions:
Preheat Oven to 500
1. In a sauté pan heat olive oil on Med heat. cook garlic and shallots until translucent.
2. Add pepper, salt, and coriander and cook for 1 minute
3. transfer to a cool plate
4. In a large bowl, scramble the eggs with a fork, then add the cooled shallot mixture
5. Add the lamb to the egg mixture along with the bread crumbs, lemon, pistachios, and olives. Mix thoroughly until evenly incorporated.
6. Roll into bite sized meat balls.
7. Place on a cookie sheet and bake for approximately 10-12 minutes. The internal temperature should be 160 degrees.
8. Place on a toothpick or skewer and lightly drizzle with the vin cotto.
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