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Meatballs with za'atar flatbread

post #1 of 6
8/28/11 at 11:23am
Thread Starter 

Meatballs served with "arabic" style flatbread. Another rainy august day experiment.

 

1. Make a tomato sauce; onion/ garlic/ thyme/ oregano/ fresh tomatoes/ vinegar/ chili/ lots of fresh basil. Push through a sieve when done.

2. Bread; I used... flour tortillas, shredded. Olive oil/ sumac/ thyme/ fleur de sel (yes, za'atar without the sesamseeds). Bake in the oven at 180°C. Let cool entirely before consumption!! Comes out nice and crispy when cooled! Of course you can use all kinds of oriental bread as well.

3. Meatballs; 50/50 pork and veal/ same amount lean beef/ 1 egg/ panko/ chili/ parmezan/ chives (a lot!). Fry the meatballs in a pan with oil. When almost done, add sieved tomato sauce and let simmer until done. I cut one meatball to show how it looks inside.

4. Homemade yoghurt, no seasoning at all/ iceberg salad. Slices of scallion (green part only!); never throw that away, plenty taste.

 

Looks fantastic, tastes delicious! Easy to make. The yoghurt is a nice and fresh touch, tones down the chili; something to remember.

 

meatballsExperiment1.jpg

 

"Bread" ready to go in the oven. Tortilla shredded, painted with oil, sprinkled with sumac, thyme, fleur de sel.

meatballsExperiment2.jpg

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post #2 of 6
8/28/11 at 12:12pm

It's a breath of fresh air to see you dishes again.

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post #3 of 6
8/29/11 at 4:37am
Thread Starter 

Thanks Pan!

Forgot to mention there's a very finely chopped raw shallot and clove of garlic in the meat too. I wouldn't do that with a rougher cut onion; I like to soften them first in a pan and cool them before adding to the meat.

The recipe would be a lot more original using lambmeat, spices like cumin etc. and Libanese bread or similar. But, this is a nice and simple western alternative.

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post #4 of 6
9/1/11 at 4:06pm

Mmmm-looks great.  Will try it soon!

Thanks for the idea.

I would not have thought about using regular flour tortillas to make middle east flatbread.  Plus, funny you mention using Panko in your meatballs.  I made some Danish Frikadellar a few nights ago and realized that I had forgotten to buy flour, so used my last little splash of flour then substituted panko for the rest of the filler.  I was afraid of them not tasting authentic enough, but they were delicious without tasting quite so 'heavy'. Ever add a little cumin to your middle-eastern meatballs?

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post #5 of 6
9/2/11 at 5:43am
Thread Starter 

Cumin in meatballs is delicious when used sparingly. Indeed, I should have added some.

Yesterday I was in my regular etnic shop and found a package of "Jordanian thyme". I didn't buy it since the ingredient list mentioned; thyme, salt, sumac, sesam; that's simply za'atar. Everything was ground together in a strange fluffy looking mixture, with white sesam seeds added.

 

I'm still looking for the specific kind of thyme they use in za'atar, seems to taste more like oregano than thyme. Haven't found it yet.

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post #6 of 6
9/3/11 at 6:52am

That's a good idea about the tortillas.

 

When I make matlouh I use this recipe, it's mostly a method but it works beautifully.  If I'm in a hurry I just buy pre-made pizza dough from my local pizza restaurant.

 

http://zoukitchenculture.blogspot.com/2005/11/matlouh-moroccan-flat-bread.html

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