Name: Georgian Meatballs With Tahini and Walnut Sauce
Prep time: 30 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 1 h 5 min
Yield: 6 serving(s)
Ingredients: 200 g ground veal; 200 g minced chicken; 1 onion, finely chopped; 3 garlic cloves, crushed; 50 g dried sour cherries, chopped; 50 g pine nuts, lightly toasted and roughly chopped; 1/2 teaspoon Hungarian paprika; 1/8 teaspoon ground allspice; 1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon; 1 egg white, lightly whipped; 1 bunch fresh coriander, finely chopped; 1 bunch of fresh mint, finely chopped; salt and pepper; 2 tablespoons vegetable oil; 200 g shelled walnuts; 3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped; 150 g tahini; 2 large lemons, juice of; crusty bread

1

Recipe by MarraMamba

1

Person talking

Join In Now Join the conversation!

Georgian Meatballs With Tahini and Walnut Sauce created by Dr. Jenny

wonderful meatballs using sour cherries (or dried) and a great sauce

Ready In:: 1hr 5mins
Serves:
Units:

1

Person talking

Join In Now Join the conversation!

ingredients

For the meatballs
200 g ground veal
200 g minced chicken
1 onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed
50 g dried sour cherries, chopped
50 g pine nuts, lightly toasted and roughly chopped
¹⁄₂ teaspoon Hungarian paprika
¹⁄₈ teaspoon ground allspice
¹⁄₈ teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 egg white, lightly whipped
1 bunch fresh coriander, finely chopped
1 bunch of fresh mint, finely chopped
salt and pepper
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
For the tahini-walnut sauce
200 g shelled walnuts
3 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
150 g tahini
2 large lemons, juice of
To serve
crusty bread

directions

To make the sauce, toast the walnuts in a large heavy frying pan, stirring over a medium heat for about 5 minutes until the walnuts are golden brown. Remove from the pan and leave to cool.
Set aside a few walnuts to use as garnish, then grind the remainder in a food processor.
In a medium bowl, combine the garlic, tahini, and lemon juice and season to taste. The paste will be very thick at this stage, so add 4-5 tablespoons of water and beat with a fork until you have the consistency of very thick double cream, adding more water as needed. Add the ground walnuts to the tahini and refrigerate until ready to use.
To make the meatballs, combine the minced veal and chicken in a bowl, then add the onion, garlic, sour cherries, pine nuts, paprika, allspice and cinnamon. Mix well, then stir in the beaten egg white. Add the fresh herbs and salt and pepper to taste and mix thoroughly.
Shape the mixture into balls the size of golfballs. Heat the oil in a large frying pan. Fry the meatballs a few at a time, turning occasionally, until cooked through and brown on all sides, about 10 minutes per batch. Keep the cooked meatballs warm while you fry the remainder.
To serve, garnish the tahini and walnut sauce with the reserved whole walnuts, and serve with the hot meatballs and some crusty bread.

Submit a Recipe Correction

Add a Note

RECIPE MADE WITH LOVE BY

@MarraMamba

Contributor

@MarraMamba

Contributor

"wonderful meatballs using sour cherries (or dried) and a great sauce"

JOIN THE CONVERSATION

upload

review

tweak

ask

all

reviews

tweaks

q&a

sort by:

photo by Dr. Jenny

6/12/2008

Reply
review by Dr. Jenny

6/11/2008

This was an interesting meatball dish. I thought the dried sour cherries gave a nice flavor to the dish. The tahini-walnut sauce yielded a significantly greater amount of sauce than was needed for the meatballs (and we were generous in our covering of the meatballs), so a lot of it went to waste. The combination of the meatballs and the sauce was definitely a necessity, as we felt neither were quite as interesting on their own, but together they made for a nice pairing. We served with crusty bread as suggested. Made for ZWT4.

Reply
creation by MarraMamba

1/22/2008

wonderful meatballs using sour cherries (or dried) and a great sauce