Spaghetti With Middle-Eastern Meatballs
"A nice change from the usual."
- Ready In:
- 1hr 10mins
- Ingredients:
- 21
- Serves:
-
6
ingredients
- 700 g lean ground beef
- 1 large onion, divided,finely chopped
- 1⁄2 cup fresh breadcrumb
- 4 cloves garlic, divided,minced
- 1⁄4 teaspoon cumin seed
- 2 tablespoons parsley, plus
- 2 teaspoons parsley, chopped fine
- 5 tablespoons olive oil, divided,plus
- extra olive oil, for browning
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 1 small red bell peppers or 1 small green bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped
- 1⁄4 cup dry red wine
- 850 g canned chopped tomatoes, with juices
- 2 teaspoons honey
- 1⁄4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1⁄4 teaspoon dried oregano
- salt and pepper, to taste
- 1 teaspoon hot pepper flakes
- 1⁄4 teaspoon dried rosemary
- 300 g spaghetti
- 170 g feta cheese, crumbled
directions
- In a large bowl, combine ground beef, 1/4 cup onion, bread crumbs, half of the minced garlic (2 cloves), cumin seeds, 2 TBS parsley and 3 TBS olive oil and mix well with your hands.
- Pull off small pieces of the mixture and roll into 1 inch balls.
- In a large nonstick skillet, add a small amount of olive oil and cook the meatballs for about 10 minutes or until browned on all sides; transfer to a platter.
- In the same pan, melt butter and 2 TBS olive oil over medium heat.
- Add remainder of the chopped onion, bell pepper, remaining garlic and cook stirring frequently for 5-7 minutes or until the vegetables are softened.
- Stir in the red wine, reduce heat to a simmer.
- Add tomatoes with juices and all remaining ingredients except the spaghetti and feta.
- Simmer, partially covered and stirring occasionally for 20 minutes.
- Add the meatballs and cook for 10 minutes more.
- Meanwhile, cook the spaghetti as directed on the package and drain; serve topped with meatballs and sauce, sprinkled with the feta.
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Reviews
-
Really wonderful and different! This is NOT the same old meatball recipe! We loved the combination of flavors in the sauce which was especially good when served with feta melting into it. Yum! I thought the recipe was perfect as is but if you like a lot of sauce, double it. This is a great dish to make ahead of time as the flavors only get better with time. Thanks, FlemishMinx, for another keeper!
RECIPE SUBMITTED BY
FlemishMinx
Belgium
I am an American married to a Belgian, and have lived in Belgium since December 1999. Cooking is my major hobby. I'm also an avid reader, but I have difficulty finding the time. I love to travel. Since moving to Europe I've been lucky enough to have had the opportunity to go a couple of times per year to Paris, as well as having visited London, Rome, Florence, Naples, Amsterdam, and of course Brussels and Antwerp. I've seen at least parts of most regions of France, as well as parts of Germany, Austria, a great deal of Switzerland, Slovenia, Croatia, Luxembourg, and Monaco. I'm absolutely in love with the Bay of Naples and Sorrento coast areas of Italy, which my husband and I recently re-visited on a trip that included Rome, Puglia, Umbria and Marche. I'm still looking forward to Ireland, Spain, Portugal, the Czech Republic . . . the list is too long ! One of the bonuses of travel is getting to taste the local cuisine, and afterward trying to figure out how to duplicate it at home.
I think cooking is one of the nicest things a person can do for someone they love (including themself!)
I had to submit a picture with me and my cat, Sophie, as she insists on sitting in my lap when I'm sitting at the computer. If you are wondering what all that stuff hanging on the wall behind us in the photo is, it is just a small part of my husband's military medal collection. He was appalled by my posting this picture-- Our study is the messiest room in our house (thank god!)
