Harissa and feta lamb koftas, slaw and sumac yogurt
Little blissful balls
Adam here this week.
Wow have we been BUSY. We are now fully into the summer event season, which for us means catering a party or wedding most weekends until the end of Sept. There’s nothing better than hearing the pissed purr’s of punters as they eat our food.
This means that our days are a series of logistical equations that need to be worked out. Soph’s mind looks like something out of the Matrix. Green binary code running across her vision as she eats her toast and marmalade and works out how we’re going to get it all done. We wouldn’t have it any other way!
This week Rudy got his first taste in a professional kitchen! In a very exciting commission some lovely peeps asked to make a HUGE tiramisu for their wedding dessert / instead of their cake.
It was an absolute hoot to make and absolutely terrifying to transport across South London in the boot of our car. At every slight bit of incline i was imagining it sliding out of the huge tin and into the boot of our car. Thankfully it arrived in one piece.
In situ:
Aside from that we’ve been writing plenty of recipes and filming vids for socials - so watch this space for any exciting bits and bobs being drip fed through our socials!
We’re also introducing a new section to the newsletter; ‘we’ve been loving’. It’s basically just something we’ve come across that absolutely BANGS and you should know about. These are usually things that we’ve picked up from the shops - but if it’s ever something we’ve been sent (for free) we’ll make sure we make that prominent - but we never shout about anything if it’s not banging. It’ll come and go, as and when we do have something to shout about.
Right - recipe time!
Harissa and feta lamb koftas, slaw and sumac yogurt
This weeks recipe was actually born out of some skewered koftas we did for a BBQ at the end of last year. They went down a storm. They’ve got sweet heat from the harissa and pops of creamy freshness from the feta.
We’ve made them a little more at-home accessible by making them into little meatballs and serving them with a zingy slaw and pitas to stuff them into. An absolute winner. As always - if you make them - SHOUT US!
Enjoy x
Serves 3-4
Takes 30 mins
1 red onion
1 lemon
400g lamb mince
2 tbsp rose harissa
Salt and black pepper
100g feta
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
2 tbsp pom mollasses, plus a drizzle to serve
For the sumac yogurt
200g Greek yogurt
1 tsp sumac, plus a pinch to serve
1 small garlic clove
To serve
Handful flat-leaf parsley leaves
Slaw (see bottom for running recipe)
Pittas
Cut the red onion in ½ through the root. Finely chop one of the halves and scrape into a large bowl and very thinly slice the other half and scrape into a small bowl. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze one half into the sliced onion bowl. Add a pinch of salt and scrunch together, then set aside.
Add the lamb mince to the large bowl with the chopped onion along with the harissa and plenty of salt and pepper. Cut the feta in half and set aside one half for later. Crumble the remaining feta into small pieces into the bowl and mix really well until the seasonings are evenly distributed.
Get a little ramekin of cold water to hand - this will help you shape the meatballs. Take 2 tbsp of the mix and shape into a round. Put onto a clean baking tray and repeat with the remaining mix. It should make about 16. These can then be chilled for up to 24 hours until needed, or used straight away.
Spoon the greek yogurt into a bowl and squeeze in the remaining lemon ½, season with salt and black pepper and add the sumac. Peel and grate in the garlic clove and mix the yogurt really well. Taste and adjust the seasoning.
Heat the olive oil in a large frying pan over a medium-high heat. Once hot, put the meatballs into the pan and fry for 1-2 minutes until golden, then flip and repeat. Keep repeating until all the sides are nicely browned, so frying them for around 6 minutes - this will ensure they’re cooked through.
Once they’re golden, remove the pan from the heat and spoon in the pom mollasses. Toss, turn and cook for 1 minute until they’re sticky and golden. Put the pan to one side while you plate up - this’ll give them a chance to rest slightly.
Spoon the garlicky yogurt over the base of a large, round platter. Pile up the meatballs and spoon over the sweet, sour, sticky glaze. Scatter over the parsley, pickled onions and crumble over the feta. Finish with a drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil, more pom molasses and a sprinkle of sumac.
The slaw we ate all this with (serves 3-4, too):
Shred ½ white cabbage, matchstick 1 carrot, slice 1 romano pepper, thinly slice 1 pack of radishes. 2 tbsp oil, 2 tbsp pom molasses, 1 tsp ground cumin, juice of ½ lemon. Plenty of chopped parsley. Toss really well, season and adjust pom mollasses, lemon juice and cumin to taste.
We’ve been loving…
We’ve been drinking a bottle of this vinho verde a week in our house. It’s super crisp and refreshing with the usual suspects of green apple and citrus and perfect for the (hopefully?!?!) warm weather of Summer. Zing! It’s also just 10.5% alcohol, so you can have a nice glass with your lunch or dinner with minimal repercussions.
We found it in Waitrose and it’s £8.99 a bottle. BARGAIN!!! Shout us if you’ve grabbed and enjoyed a bottle - you won’t regret it!