Recipe: Spiced Lamb Meatballs in Eggplant 'Leaves' and Yogurt Sauce

SPICED LAMB MEATBALLS IN EGGPLANT 'LEAVES'
AND YOGURT SAUCE

"I have the good fortune to belong to a member-owned and operated food coop here in Brooklyn. It's a unique places that dabbles in delicacies like smoked salmon and duck liver-all from creatures raised organically and sustainably. I occasionally run across a shipment of ground lamb from the Catskills region of New York State, and I snap some right up. I love Middle Eastern spices with ground lamb, so I season it heartily and shape it into small meatballs that I broil and wrap in thin slices of roasted eggplant. The wrapped meatballs are then topped with a piquant pomegranate and coriander yogurt sauce and popped into the waiting mouths of my family. I've found these meatballs good to serve as cocktail hors d'oeuvres-the eggplant leaves make them easy finger food."

FOR THE LAMB MEATBALLS:
1 1/2 pounds ground lamb (if you can't find ground lamb, you can buy lamb shoulder to grind at home)
3 ounces French feta (French feta is milder than Greek, and I prefer it in this recipe)
1 clove garlic, minced
2 scallions, minced (white and a little of green part, too)
2 teaspoons grated fresh ginger
1 teaspoon ground coriander seed
2 teaspoons ground cumin seed
2 jalape os, minced, or 1 serrano chile, minced
Hearty pinch chopped cilantro
Blend of salt, pepper, and a little nutmeg to taste (1 teaspoon to start)
Olive oil, for saut ing test piece of meatball
FOR THE EGGPLANT 'LEAVES':
2 Japanese or Asian eggplants, or 1 large purple eggplant
Olive Oil as needed for roasting
Salt and pepper
FOR THE YOGURT SAUCE:
Seeds of 1 pomegranate, or a scattering of finely diced tomato if pomegranates are not in season
1 cup whole-milk yogurt, preferably Greek because it's so thick and rich
3 tablespoons minced cilantro, plus a few whole sprigs for garnishing
Salt and pepper

PREPARE THE MEATBALLS:
Fold together the ground lamb, feta, garlic, scallions, ginger, coriander, cumin, chiles, cilantro, salt, pepper, and nutmeg in a bowl. Let flavors develop by resting the meat in the fridge while you roast the eggplant and make the yogurt sauce.

When ready to broil the meatballs, pinch off a small pice of the lamb mixture and saut it in a drop or two of olive oil. Thi is the only way to taste for seasoning. Cook the pinch of lamb mixture until just pink inside and taste. Then add more salt and pepper if needed. Once you have seasoned the meat, shape it out into 24-36 small meatballs.

MAKE THE EGGPLANT "LEAVES:"
Preheat the broiler. I use a plastic Japanese mandoine to cut the eggplant into very thin, 1/8-inch slices, but a steady hand and a sharp knife will do the trick too. Once you have sliced the eggplant thin, cut the slices into roughly 1 1/2 inches wide by 5 inches long. This size will allow for shrinkage when the eggplant cooks, and the slice will wrap nicely around the small meatballs. Brush each eggplant strip lightly with olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Roast under the broiler on the second shelf from the top to avoid burning the thin slices. When the eggplant is browned and tender, it's ready. Let it cool before handling.

MAKE THE YOGURT SAUCE:
Remove the seeds from the pomegranate: I do this by cutting the fruit in half and plucking the seeds out from between the papery white membranes. Don't wear anything that you mind having speckled with pink dots of pomegranate juice! Stir together the yogurt, the cilantro, and half the pomegranate seeds in a bowl. Reserve the rest of the seeds to garnish the plates or platter with.

BROIL THE MEATBALLS:
Place the meatballs on a baking sheet in the oven, on the second shelf down from the top-if you put the meatballs too close to the broiler, they will overbrown on the outside before cooking through (see note below). Broil the meatballs until just a little pink inside. This will take 5-8 minutes depending on the size of your meatballs. Remove from the broiler and rest 2-3 minutes before wrapping with the eggplant "leaves."

Note: If you have an oven with a broiler "drawer," where the flame is very close to the food, you'll want to bake your meatballs in the oven at about 400 F instead, because they will burn if you put them under the intense heat of such a close flame. Bake the meatballs for 5-8 minutes, depending on the size, and if you need to give them a bit of browning, just pop them under the broiler for a few seconds.

Wrap a strip of roasted eggplant around each meatball and top with a half teaspoon or so of the yogurt sauce. Pass around as finger food or serve 4-6 of them to each person as a main course.

Note: These meatballs taste best at room temperature--not too hot or too chilled. If you have leftovers, bring them to room temperature before devouring.

WEIGHING YOUR OPTIONS:
When serving these as a main course, I pair them with Couscous, and an exotic-tasting side salad or just some simply steamed rice.

Serves 6
Excerpted from Sparks in the Kitchen by Katy Sparks with Andrea Strong
Copyright 2005 by Katy Sparks with Andrea Strong. Excerpted by permission of Knopf, a division of Random House, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.