Meatballs

Food and Wine magazine publishes a great series of "Quick for Scratch" cookbooks that I love. I bought the "Quick from Scratch: One Dish Meals" a few years ago from the clearance rack at Barnes and Noble, and I've made many meals from it. The variety of dishes is always great, and I've never made a recipe that didn't turn out. This past week I received "Quick From Scratch: Herbs and Spices" from Amazon.com. Last night I made the Lamb Meatballs with Cumin, Mint, and Tomato Sauce. Here is the recipe:

Lamb Meatballs with Cumin, Mint, and Tomato Sauce

Serves 4

1 1/2 lbs ground lamb
3 T chopped blanched almonds
3 T dried bread crumbs
5 T chopped fresh mint
2 cloves garlic, minced
3 t ground cumin
1 12/ t salt
1/4 t fresh-ground black pepper
4 T cooking oil
1 onion, chopped finely
1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes with their juice (preferably organic)
cous cous, for serving

In a medium bowl, combine the lamb, almonds, bread crumbs, 3 T of the mint, the farlic, 1 t cumin, 1 t salt, and the pepper. Shape the mixture into 16 meatballs, about 2 in-in diameter, and flatten them a little in the palm of your hand.

In a large, deep frying pan, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil over moderately high heat. Add the meatballs and cook, turning, until browned all over, about 3 minutes. Remove from the pan and drain on paper towels.

Add the remaining 2 T oil to the pan and turn the heat down to medium low. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the tomatoes and the remaining cumin and 1/2 t of the salt. Bring to a simmer, then reduve the heat and simmer, covered, for 10 minutes.

Make the cous cous according to the package instructions.

Add the meatballs to the tomato sauce and simmer, covered, unitl the meatballs are cooked through, about 10 minutes longer. Stir in the remaining 2 T mint and serve over the cous cous.

The cookbook suggests that this be served with a wine that is crisp, and not too tannic nor assertive, and suggests a Rioja. We ate this with a Torres 2000 Gran Sangre de Toro Reserva from Catalunya. The wine was excellent with this dish: full and with a smooth finish, it complemented the spicy-smokiness of the meatballs perfectly.

The almonds added a crunch to the meatballs that was interesting texturally, but not much flavor. (I just used the planters slivered almonds, though, and I wonder if they might have been a little stale.) The mint added an extra dimension to the sauce, but beyond that was barely detectable in the dish - perfect. I think that this recipe could very easily be made ahead and frozen - it might even taste better. Next time, I might add some red pepper flakes or cayenne for an extra kick.