Rosemary Lamb Meatballs Recipe
Minimal effort, maximum flavor, and nutrients with this lamb meatball midweek dinner meal that is super easy to put together and supports optimal health. Try this recipe for the juiciest meatballs going married with fresh rosemary, especially when served with our unique pesto and zoodles for an easy, low-carb meal.
Everyone has their take on meatballs, likely passed down from generation to generation, whether using a meat combo of beef and pork or adding breadcrumbs or egg to the mix.
Lamb meatballs tend to be left out of the meatball war/game. It’s typically beef or pork. I prefer the taste of lamb and its unique and better nutritional benefits and values.
Lamb and goat are the original decentralized animals compared to more domesticated ruminant animals such as beef. Lamb and goat can go places where beef can’t, making it a more environmentally friendly animal with how it supports the soil and ecosystem. Additionally, due to its terrain on the mountains and harsh climate, it is unique because the area it inhabits is not partial to conventional mono-crop agriculture. This is something that most environmental food climatists don’t consider.
My friend, Tristan from Bitcoin and Beef, discusses this in his book - a worthy and good read to know more about the food story from soil to farmer to your fork.
The Rosemary and Lamb Combo
Rosemary is a unique herb of mine. I love it in most things - meat, soap, water, and coffee. Lamb and rosemary have the perfect marriage. As mentioned above - lamb is a strong animal that can live and thrive in harsh environments, but the same could be said for rosemary.
The Greeks and other Mediterranean countries love the combo of rosemary and lamb. The herb cuts through the fattier meat than beef but also adds a unique herbiness with many helpful benefits, such as cognition and antioxidant properties in protecting meat glycation.
We have made this recipe low-carb friendly - using courgettes/zucchini as the “pasta,” creating noodles from them. I love the freshness and the lightness this brings compared to the sludge of pasta, whether it’s gluten-free or not.
To make this lamb meatball recipe different and keep the vibes of the green with the courgetti / zoodles, we have decided to use a pesto with good creaminess and texture. We are using a selection of nuts like pistachios. This transforms the meatballs into a party-in-the-mouth experience.
If you wish to avoid the nuts with the pesto, use a tomato passata or quality store-bought marinara sauce to slow-cook the meatballs. Tomatoes with lamb and rosemary - scream out the Mediterranean.
When I have this meal - I visualize myself in Cyprus in a little restaurant or family home, enjoying this around a table filled with laughs and happy people.
My Secret Ingredient: Black Garlic
As mentioned - there are many different versions. With the lamb meatball recipe - we have added another unique ingredient: black garlic. Black garlic is a fermentable version of the traditional garlic. It can be found in most health stores and likely online from local producers.
Black garlic can be eaten raw and, due to the fermentation, has a sweetness and softness added to it - to me, it tastes a little like licorice.
The black garlic works exceptionally well with the rosemary and lamb. If you cannot find it, then using traditional garlic also works.
To help with firmer and ensure the binding of the meatballs is well set, we have added eggs into the mix—more nutritional gains with the extra choline. Additionally, if you’re feeling more adventurous, add small pieces of fresh lamb liver to add more copper and vitamin A.
Lamb Meatballs Cooking Tips
The key to a good meatball is retaining all the flavor and juiciness inside without drying it out and tasting like cardboard. To do this, caramelize the outside of your meatballs before adding a sauce. Even when using tomato sauce, the goal is not to be too hot, which can overcook and dry out the meatballs; instead, keep it low.
When rolling and making your meatballs - be firm, but don’t be overly complicated and press too hard on the meatballs. Ensure there are no breaks in the meatball around the exterior.
The fat content of the lamb should be 10-15%. You can reduce the fat to save calories with the caramelizing as this should render any excess fat, which you can dispose of ideally back to the soil outside your garden, not your kitchen sink, which might block. That said, the fat provides moisture, so don’t skimp or opt for anything under 10%.
Ensure you salt your meatballs well to retain their water content. Like humans not having enough salt in our diet when drinking pure water, it can go through us.
Rosemary Lamb Meatballs Step-By-Step
Serves: 6
Skill level: Easy
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cooking time: 45-90 minutes
Ingredients
1 kg Lamb mince/ground meat (15% fat used)
1 tbsp sea salt
Black garlic 6 cloves or paste, 30ml
4 eggs
Fresh rosemary, 15g - take off the stalks and roughly chopped.
1 tablespoon of ghee
To serve with:
30g of grated parmesan cheese (optional)
Fresh oregano or basil leaves torn.
Pesto - (recipe below)
Courgette/Zucchini noodles, aka courgetti (Recipe below)
How To Cook Rosemary Lamb Meatballs
Place all ingredients except if using black garlic paste - not black garlic cloves then add to the mixture) into a mixing bowl and use your hands to blend well.
Put the oven on to preheat at 180c
Make little balls out of the mixture with your hands - around an inch in diameter and place them all nestled together before squeezing out the black garlic paste over the tops of the balls in a circular motion. It looks beautiful, but you can easily incorporate it into the mixture in step one above.
Heat a wide saucepan on medium-high heat - hot enough to heat a good sizzle. Add the ghee, adding more if needed.
Sauté the meatballs - don't squash. Allow enough space. Sear the meatballs so they have a nice color on the outside. Turn frequently and cook as evenly as you can for two minutes.
Then, transfer the pan to an oven tray—place it in an oven-proof dish, and put it in the oven for 20 minutes.
Ingredients for Pesto:
Wild garlic or watercress or substitute for fresh spinach leaves, 70 grams
Pistachios, 50 grams
Parmesan, 60 grams
150ml Extra virgin olive oil
Juice of ½ lemon and zest
How to Make Pesto
Blend with a pestle and mortar or electric blender.
Store leftovers in an airtight glass jar.
Zoodles / CourgettI Ingredients
2 courgettes, medium-sized and spiralized using a simple kitchen gadget or simple use a potato peeler to create thin strips/ribbons
Pesto - 3-4 tbsp
How to Make Zoodles / CourgettI
Fry through the courgetti/zoodles with 3 to 4 tbsp of pesto stirring gently for 5 minutes.
Try not to overcook the noodles will go soggy and too watery.
Season with salt and pepper as you wish.
Lamb rosemary meatball (not inc pesto or zoodles) Nutritional Value (per serving)
CALORIES: 434
PROTEIN: 35
CARBS: 6
FAT: 30
FIBER: 2
VITAMIN B1: 0.1MG
VITAMIN B2: 0.1MG
VITAMIN B3: 1MG
VITAMIN B5: 0.5MG
VITAMIN B6: 0.2MG
VITAMIN B9: 18UG
VITAMIN B12: 0.8UG
CHOLINE: 87MG
VITAMIN A: 69UG
RETINOL: 65UG
VITAMIN C: 0.5MG
VITAMIN D: 25IU
VITAMIN E: 0.5MG
VITAMIN K: 0.3UG
CALCIUM: 25MG
COPPER: 0.1MG
IRON: 1MG
MAGNESIUM: 30MG
MANGANESE: 0.1MG
POTASSIUM: 157MG
SELENIUM: 9UG
ZINC: 1.4MG
OMEGA 3: 0.1G
OMEGA 6: 0.5G