If the previous recipe was simple, this is dead easy, especially the lentil meatballs, because the coconut sauce is easy but you need several ingredients. I discovered the meatballs by chance at the wonderful recipe blog Naturally Ella and after seeing how good they tasted, I subscribed to the blog, and all the recipes look so mouthwatering. I´ll let you know as soon as I make some other of her recipes.Also, the pictures are so pretty! -Now I pay so much attention to food photography, and I despair at how difficult it is to make them as nice as Erin does on her blog. Let´s see if little by little I improve my photos!
So these meatballs are delicious and easy, and if you do it like me, with canned cooked lentils, you can do on any given day without any planning.
They can be prepared as traditional meatballs with tomato sauce or with gravy. One day I´ll show you my Great Grandmother Narcisa´s gravy for meatballs, it´s delicious. Also you can put in a sandwich wrap as they do in Naturally Ella, or serve as my sister did at a snacking dinner to dip them in a yogurt sauce.
I decided to make them with Gordon Ramsey´s coconut sauce, this is the recipe, and the truth is that they combine very well. I hope you like and tell me how you go.
- MEATBALLS
- 400 gr of cooked lentils, drained
- 2 eggs, better if they are organic or at least free-range eggs
- 175g ricotta
- 70 gr grated Parmesan
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley or 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- ½ teaspoon ground fennel seeds
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme.
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 pinch of freshly ground pepper
- COCONUT SAUCE
- 2 teaspoons ground coriander seeds
- 4 cardamom pods or ½ teaspoon ground cardamom
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- Some fresh red chilli finely chopped (depending on how hot you like it, it´s better to add tasting)
- 2 stalks lemon grass
- 1 piece fresh Ginger, about 4 cm.
- 400 ml of broth
- 400 ml coconut milk
- 1 lime, zest and juice.
- Olive oil
- salt
- pepper
- TRADITIONAL : With hand blender make puree the lentils in a bowl and mix well with eggs , breadcrumbs , ricotta , Parmesan , parsley , thyme , garlic , fennel , salt and pepper. Cover and let stand in refrigerator 20 minutes.
- THERMOMIX : Beat for one minute lentils to a puree . Bring down the remainings from the thermomix walls and blend a little longer. Add eggs, bread crumbs, ricotta , parmesan , parsley, thyme, garlic, fennel seeds, salt, pepper and return to beat until well blended. Cover and let stand in refrigerator 20 minutes.
- We wash our hands and, without drying -so the mixture sticks less to hands-, we roll the meatballs. I like them tiny. If we see that do not roll well, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of bread crumbs until they are perfectly consistent for rolling.
- We put a saucepan on the fire with two tablespoons of olive oil. Sauté meatballs turning them over with a wooden spoon until browned on all sides. Add the spices and ginger and stir well because the spices taste much better if roasted in fire.
- Add the broth and coconut milk and cook over low heat for about 10-12 minutes. After this time we taste, add salt and pepper and add the zest and lime juice. Serve with cilantro sprinkled on top.