Beef Meatballs with Fava Beans and Lemon
You may have noticed by now that when it comes to preparing meat, I have a tendency to grind it up, mix it with other yummies, and shape it into a ball, patty, loaf, or burger. What can I say? Using ground meat is so versatile and economical and flat-out yummy, it’s hard to resist. So I don’t have to tell you why these caught my eye, right?
I’m always looking for recipes that use ground beef, which is always plentifully stocked in my freezer. And when I say ways to use ground beef, what I’m really saying is ways to use ground beef that aren’t super boring. These meatballs are definitely different from what you’d expect from an all-beef meatball- they’re light, fresh, packed with more flavor than you can imagine, coated with a bright, clean sauce and nestled among fresh green fava beans. Now doesn’t that sound better than hamburger helper?!
This is the perfect dinner to make for those in-between spring days, when you want something bright and fresh, but the days are still chilly enough that you’re craving something that will stick to your ribs. This, somehow, covers both of those cravings in one simple dish. I love that. And don’t be afraid of making the spice mix yourself if you can’t find it (or don’t want to go looking for it). It takes all of one minute, and I bet you have most, if not all of those spices in your baking drawer. You may think that all that spice is overpowering, but I promise you, once it’s all cooked up together, the flavors are perfect and balanced. Using all those spices isn’t only very healthy (antioxidants!), but it’s a great way to try new flavors and see what you like. I’m often surprised by the thing I like when I’m experimenting with a new spice mix.
I will admit that these could have been even better if I had waited a few weeks and found some fresh fava beans when they came into season. But the recipe looked so good I wasn’t keen on waiting and I didn’t want to risk waiting and then sharing it with you once they were out of season and hard to come by again. So I used the frozen variety, which were good enough, awesome with the meatballs, but nothing beats fresh. But the good news is that now, when you see fresh favas at the grocery store or farmers market soon, you can snatch them up, knowing exactly what you should do with them. You should make these meatballs, obviously.
Ingredients
- Meatballs:
- 1 lb ground beef
- 1 tsp salt
- black pepper to taste
- 1 medium onion, finely chopped
- 3/4 cup bread crumbs
- 2 tbsp each chopped parsley, mint, dill, and cilantro
- 2 cloves of garlic, minced
- 4 tsp baharat spice mix (see below for separate recipe)
- 3 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp capers, roughly chopped
- 1 egg
- To assemble:
- approx. 1/2 cup olive oil
- 2 1/3 cups fresh or frozen fava beans
- 4 whole thyme sprigs
- 6 garlic cloves, sliced
- 8 green onions, cut into 1" pieces
- juice from one lemon
- 2 cups chicken stock
- salt and pepper
- 1 tbsp each chopped parsley, mint, dill, and cilantro
Instructions
- Bring a medium pot of salted water to a boil. Put the fava beans in the boiling water and give them a stir. Let them cook for about 2 minutes, then remove them from the heat, drain, and rinse them well with very cold water until they are cool. Remove the outer skins from the beans and set the beans aside.
- In a large bowl, mix together all meatball ingredients. (You can try to use a wooden spoon, but the most effective way to do it is to use your hands.) Form the mixture into balls of about one tablespoon- just a bit smaller than a ping pong ball.
- In a large, heavy skillet (cast iron is perfect), heat one tablespoon of olive oil over medium heat. Brown half of the meatballs at a time, making sure to get a nice deep brown on them. You'll probably have to add another tablespoon of oil to the pan between batches. Remove all the meatballs from the pan and set them aside.
- Heat the remaining olive oil in the pan, over medium heat. Add the thyme, garlic, and green onions and sautee for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then, add in the juice of half of the lemon, 1/3 cup of the stock, and some more salt and pepper to taste. Let bubble away for a few minutes, then put the meatballs back in the pan, along with the remaining stock, and simmer gently, covered, for 25 minutes. If at the end of that time, the sauce is still very runny, uncover and reduce the sauce a bit.
- Right before serving, stir in the fava beans, the rest of the lemon juice (half of the lemon) and the rest of the herbs.
- 1 tsp ground black pepper
- 1/2 tsp ground coriander
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
In a small bowl, mix spices together until well-combined. Extra can be stored in an airtight container for several weeks.