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| The Final Product in all it's glory. |
Combine the ingredients and mix gently to
combine. Shape into 12 oval patties, each
about the thickness of your hand and the length of a finger . I made them into meatballs first and the flattened them out. The fresh herbs provide a bright flavor to this without being the stereotypical mint jelly and the touch of ground cinnamon provides a bit of warmth that blends seamlessly into the background.
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| Lamb Meatballs, anyone? |
For the vegetables:
Preheat oven
to 350 degrees. Combine cubed eggplant, 4 tablespoons of the oil in large bowl, salt and pepper and toss
to coat. Spread eggplant out on rimmed
baking sheet; and bake for 12 minutes. Turn
eggplant over and bake until soft, about 12
minutes longer.
 |
| Eggplants Jewels, Busy Roasting |
Making Magic, or combining the lamb and vegetables:
Heat one tablespoon oil in large deep
skillet over medium-high heat. Add the lamb
patties and cook until brown, 3-5
minutes per side. Transfer lamb patties to
plate with a paper towel to absorb any potential oil. Add the bell pepper strips to the drippings
in the skillet and saute until they begin to soften, then transfer the bell pepper strips to
the plate with lamb.
 |
| Bell peppers flavored by lamb drippings....never thought I'd write that... |
After reducing the heat to medium, add
the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and
the chopped onion to same skillet. Cover
and cook until onion is soft, stirring
occasionally, about 5 minutes. Then, add wine
and garlic because would it really be a dinner without garlic?
 |
| How you know its dinner. |
Cook, scraping up browned
bits, until wine is reduced to glaze, about
7 minutes.
 |
| Glazed garlic and onions.... |
Return lamb and bell pepper
to the skillet and then add eggplant, tomatoes, and
marjoram. Reduce heat to medium-low.
Cover and simmer until lamb is cooked
through and vegetables are tender, about
12 minutes. If sauce is thin, simmer
uncovered until thickened to desired
consistency. Season sauce to taste with
coarse salt and pepper.
 |
| Dinner time! |
This meal is awesome! The meatballs would be great on their own as a sandwich and the vegetables would be great on their own too, but this dish is even better than the sum of its parts. We served it over polenta that was sliced and sauteed as well. This is a meal served best warm, but makes a great lunch the next day straight from the lunch box. Even better, when it's served for lunch, no one can steal a lamb patty!
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| Lamb-y, vegetable-y tastiness...see the polenta peeking out there? |
Ingredients:
Lamb patties:
1/2 cup fresh breadcrumbs
1 pound ground lamb
1/2 cup finely grated pecorino cheese
1 large egg, beaten to blend
1 tablespoon chopped fresh mint
1 tablespoon chopped fresh marjoram
1 teaspoon coarse kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
*Full disclosure - this is not a kosher recipe, but the household compromise is if it doesn't make the milk, it can be served with milk. Hence, lamb being served with cheese.
Eggplant mixture:
1 pound of eggplant, unpeeled, cut into 1-inch cubes (either one large Italian or 6-8 small Asian eggplants)
6 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
Kosher salt
1 large bell pepper, halved, seeded, cut into 1/2-inch-wide strips
1 cup finely chopped onion
1 1/3 cups dry white wine
3 large garlic cloves, minced
2 cups chopped seeded peeled red heirloom tomatoes
2 teaspoons chopped fresh marjoram
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