Pomegranate Glazed Lamb Meatballs

My goodness the holidays are approaching quickly. What happened to 2016?!

This is the time of year for parties and of course party appetizers. This party appetizer for Pomegranate Glazed Lamb Meatballs is so simple to make, but it is fancy enough to serve at a dinner party.

I found this recipe in New York Times’ cooking section and just had to try it out. Lamb meatballs with a pomegranate molasses glaze? Sign me up!

I served the Pomegranate Glazed Lamb Meatballs with some plain Greek yogurt with mint leaves mixed in, simple but a great complement!

Ingredients:

Lamb Meatballs:

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 pound ground lamb
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• the zest of 1 orange
• 3 tablespoons pomegranate molasses (recipe below)
• 1/2 cup 2% plain Greek yogurt
• 1 tablespoon fresh mint leaves, chopped
• 2 tablespoons pomegranate seeds, for garnish
• Chopped fresh mint, for garnish

Pomegranate Molasses:

• 2 cups pomegranate juice
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice

I made the pomegranate molasses to put in my Cranberry-Pomegranate Sauce as well, so here is a recap from that post. Visit the Cranberry-Pomegranate Sauce post to see how to juice a pomegranate:

To make the pomegranate molasses, add the pomegranate juice, sugar, and lemon juice to a large saucepan over medium heat. Stir until the sugar has dissolved. Bring to a simmer, then reduce the heat to just maintain a simmer.

Cook for about an hour or until it reduces to approximately 2/3 cup, checking on the level of heat from time to time to keep it at a low simmer. The mixture will have a syrup consistency.

Pour into a jar and let cool completely. You can store it in the refrigerator until use.

To make the lamb meatballs, brush a foil-lined baking sheet with the olive oil.

In a large bowl, knead together the lamb, garlic, salt, orange zest and pepper until combined.

Form into 1-inch meatballs and transfer to the foil-lined baking sheet, rolling them around to coat in the olive oil.

Heat your broiler to high. Add the meatballs to your oven under the broiler for 5 minutes, or until golden and just cooked through.

Brush immediately with pomegranate molasses.

Spear with toothpicks, sprinkle with mint and pomegranate seeds.

 

Stir together the Greek yogurt and mint leaves. Serve with the Pomegranate Glazed Lamb Meatballs.

Really simple, right?

When cooking the lamb, make sure they are on the top rack to be right under the broiler. If after 5 minutes they don’t seem to be cooked, stir the meatballs and add to the broiler for another minute or two.

The meatballs are nice and juicy. The sweet pomegranate molasses works really nicely with the flavor of the lamb.

I loved it with a little dip of the Greek yogurt mixture!

NOTE: I was sent POM POMs Fresh Arils and pomegranates for this post. All opinions are my own.