Corona Cooking Chronicles #1: Mediterranean Spiced Meatballs

About 3 weeks into quarantine, I’ve just about ran out of cooking ideas. We had peppers, onions, and ground beef that needed to be used. Thankfully, I have a pantry that’s half full of spices so this dish basically has everything but the kitchen sink!

But let’s just call it mediterranean spiced. I modified this from Craig White’s Spiced Lamb Meatball recipe for the Ninja Foodi.

MEATBALL INGREDIENTS

1lb of ground beef

1/4 cup Panko bread crumbs

2 large eggs, beaten

3 garlic cloves, minced

2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp smoked paprika

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/2 tsp red chili flakes

1/4 cup minced white onion

1/4 cup chopped parsley

Kosher salt

Ground black pepper

ROASTED PEPPERS & ONION INGREDIENTS

All of our leftover peppers

Half of a white onion

Olive Oil

Salt & Pepper

Garlic Powder

EQUIPMENT

Ninja Foodi

Wire rack or plate with paper towel

1. Spray air fryer basket with cooking spray.

2. Set at 390° for about 40 minutes. Let it preheat for 5 minutes.

3. While air fryer is preheating, slice peppers and onion into strips. Then, put it all in a bowl. Drizzle with olive oil, season with salt, pepper and garlic powder. Toss to mix.

4. Dump it into the air fryer and leave it. Make sure to check it every now and then for desired color., then set it aside. I like a lot of char in it (aka, close to burning).

5. Either prep the meatballs before all of this or if you’re like me, you just have all the ingredients out and eyeball measurements.

6. In a large bowl, mix beef, Panko bread crumbs, eggs, garlic, cumin, paprika, cinnamon, chili flakes, onion, parsley, salt, and pepper. Mix everything using your hands. It’s a natural kitchen tool.

7. Using a 1/4 measuring cup, measure out the meatball mixture and roll by hand.

8. Put the meatballs in the air fry basket - make sure there’s enough space between all of them. Spray with cooking oil, and cook for 12 minutes. Don’t forget to turn them after 6 minutes. Set aside on a wire rack.

9. Cook the rest of the meatballs that didn’t fit in the air fryer basket the first time. Cook for 12 minutes as well, and turn them midway.

10. I made this with pasta, and just cooked it according to box instructions, but 2 minutes under al dente. Only add salt after the water has boiled, and make sure it tastes like the sea! (Okay, so it’s not exactly according to box instructions.) Then, I finished it in a pan with olive oil and same seasonings as the meatball. Added a ladle scoop of salty pasta water to marry the pasta with the seasonings!

Next time, I think I will add a drizzle of tzatziki sauce. Might try out this recipe by Anne Burrell.