loaded lamb meatballs with eggplant hummus, yoghurt, pine nuts, coriander & mint

Check out these lamb meatballs, not bad hey!? I just put the recipe together for Dish, and they’re a real winner. As it’s only me at home I delivered the whole lot, with all the extra bits, to my sister’s house last night, and they got a resounding thumbs up from the whole fam 🙂 I love things eaten together which all compliment each other so beautifully like this – so first up you have the delicious spiced meatballs (great as left-overs cold in lunch-boxes etc), but load them up with garlicky eggplant hummus, salty crumbled feta, sharp red onion, creamy yoghurt with lemony pomegranate molasses, crunchy cumin spiced pine nuts, fresh bright mint and coriander and they’re basically just bloody amazing!Phew – it’s been a weird old time lately, but such an incredible treat to head back to Melbourne last weekend to spend Mother’s Day with Henry. His flat is hilarious, both unbelievably rumpty and super-cool at the same time – and in typical fashion Pog has transformed his bedroom and the living room into urban-chic magazine-worthy spaces. I also got to see where he will be working from today (now yesterday), and spend a bit of time with the lovely Will, rounded out with lots of eating out and a tiny bit of shopping! Meanwhile down in Welly Hoob has been getting stuck into his uni work, going to the gym, (even doing yoga), handing out his CV and is generally on an awesome proactive roll – woo hoo, go Rich! So, having been away, and not really with the program last week, it’s now time for me to get my sh*t together – lots of work to do, time to get busy 🙂

Olive oil spray

6-8 flatbreads

Put bread and milk in a small dish to soak. Heat olive oil ion a small frying pan and cook pine nuts and cumin seeds together for 3-4 minutes until lightly golden and fragrant. Put bread and milk in a food processor and add spices, garlic, chilli flakes, lemon zest, roughly chopped onion and egg. Whiz to combine, add lamb mince and pulse to mix together. Lastly add half of the pine nuts and cumin seed mixture and pulse again briefly. Season with salt and pepper then tip into a container, cover and refrigerate for half an hour. Roll into 24 large golf ball-sized balls and refrigerate again while the oven preheats to 200˚C (400˚F)  and line an oven tray with baking paper. Put lamb balls on the lined tray and lightly spray with oil then bake for 20 minutes, turning once during cooking. Rest the lamb balls for 3-4 minutes while the flatbreads heat in the oven, and serve with eggplant hummus, yoghurt, a drizzle of pomegranate molasses, finely sliced red onion, feta, fresh herbs and a sprinkling of pine nuts with cumin seeds. Serves 6

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Heat oven to 210˚C (410˚F) and line an oven tray with baking paper. Wash and dry eggplants well then poke 7-8 slits in each eggplant with a small sharp knife. Place on the prepared tray and cook in the hot oven 40-45 minutes until easily pierced with a knife. Trim of stems and chop into large chunks. Put remaining ingredients in a food processor; add eggplant and whiz to combine. Season to taste with salt and pepper and serve drizzled with a little extra olive oil.