This recipe makes 26 meatballs.
Israeli Meatballs Simmered in Tehina
Servings
8 Servings
Ingredients
- 2 8 oz. containers of Sabra Tehina plus 5-6 tablespoons water
- 2 pounds lean chopped meat
- 1 small onion minced
- 3 cloves garlic minced
- 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
- 2 eggs beaten
- 3/4 cup flat leaf parsley washed and patted dry, stemmed and finely chopped (Reserve 1/4 cup for garnish)
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon cumin
- 1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger
- 1 teaspoon paprika plus 1/4 teaspoon more for garnish
- Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
- 2 tablespoons pistachio halves or pine nuts roasted or browned in dry pan. Reserve for garnish.
- 2 tablespoons canola oil for pan
Instructions
- In a small bowl, Mix 2 containers of Sabra tehina with water until it is thin but not watery. Set aside.
- Mix meat with all ingredients except reserved tahini (this will become your simmer sauce); parsley, paprika and pistachios (all for garnish).
- Mix meat so that all ingredients are integrated. Do not over- handle. Form into 1 inch rounds and then pat into small football shapes.
- Heat oil in large ovenproof pan or pot. When oil is shimmering, add meatballs and brown on both sides, approximately 3 minutes per side. Do not crowd the pan. You will need to brown in 2-3 rounds.
- When meatballs are browned, remove from pan and set aside. Wipe pan of meat and onion crumbles and any extra oil that has pooled.
- Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit with shelf set in middle position.
- Pour 1/2 of tehina mixture into bottom of ovenproof pot or cast iron pan. Place meatballs in the pan in a single layer. Pour remaining tehina over meat.
- Place pan in oven and bake, uncovered for 30 minutes. Check meat for doneness by cutting into one of the meatballs.
- If meat appears a little dry, drizzle 1/4-1/2 cup of thinned tehina over the meatballs and place pan back in oven to warm.
- Serve meatballs garnished with chopped parsley, pistachios and a sprinkle of paprika.
- Serving notes: These meatballs are delicious tucked into a lettuce wrap with extra tehina drizzled over the meat. They may also be tucked into a warmed pita or served over brown rice or your grain of choice.
I would reserve a little of the thinned tahina to use at the end in case it is dry.
This is a little confusing. It seems that you use all of the tehina to bake the meatballs: half of it before adding the meatballs, then the rest if it on top of the meatballs, then bake. But it also says that if the meatballs seem a little dry, to pour tehina over them. Is that more tehina, in addition to the 2 (8 oz.) containers? Or is just basting the meatballs with what’s already in the baking dish?
No, don’t put it in the meatballs, just use it for the sauce.
Tahina I mean
Do you put some of the tabun’s in meatball mix????
Thanks for the comment, the Sabra tahini is already blended with lemon and flavorings so it makes sense that you needed to add some.
We both felt the sauce needed some flavor of its own and the that cooked tehini was kind of bitter. For the leftovers, I separated out the meatballs from the sauce and blended the sauce with some lemon juice, a garlic clove, salt, smoked paprika, garlic powder and some additional water. I even used some water to loosen the curdled sauce clinging to the meatballs. The result is a smoother sauce with more of the tehina sauce flavor one would expect.
I had to use a blender and more water than suggested to get the tehina thinned and smooth. After cooking it looks kind if curdled, but tastes fine. Do you think this is because I used a brand of tehina other than Sabra? It was just ground sesame seeds.