Feta and Eggplant Meatballs with Tzatziki

I loved, loved, loved this dish!

I love meatballs because they're a quick and easy dinner for kids, not that my fussy kids always eat them, but if I offer meatballs to my kids I feel like I've made a good effort at getting decent food into them. I usually grate carrot and zucchini into my meatballs and cook them in a Tuscan sauce with rosemary and oregano and tomatoes. Not so that's its rich, but flavoursome.

Usually having a tomato based sauce with meatballs, I was excited to try these as I wanted to know how the creamy Tzatziki would go with them. And I love eggplant. I love anything with eggplant in it. And Feta. So I already knew these would be a win.

Make sure you use young eggplant or you'll need to salt (degorge) them before cooking to draw out the excess moisture and stop them from being bitter.

A friend asked for the recipe for these after I posted a photo on my Instagram account, so here it is:

Feta and Eggplant Meatballs
 
You'll need:
400g eggplant, finely chopped
2 tbs Olive Oil
500g Beef mince
1/3 cup chopped Flat-Leaf Parsley
1/3 cup chopped Mint
2 cloves of Garlic, crushed
1 tbs finely grated Lemon Rind
200g Feta, crumbled
Sea Salt and fresh cracked Black Pepper
1 tbs Olive Oil, extra
Lemon Wedges, to serve

Method:
Prehead the oven to 180C. Place the eggplant and oil on a baking tray and toll to coat. Roast for 30 Min or till golden. Remove and allow to cool.
Place the eggplant, mince, parsley, mint, garlic, lemon rind, feta, salt and pepper in a bowl and stir until well combined. Roll tablespoons of the mixture into balls. Place the extra oil in a large non-stick frying pan over medium heat. Add the balls and cook for 3 - 4 minutes or till browned. Place on a baking tray and cook for 5 - 6 minutes or until cooked through. Serve with Tzatziki and lemon wedges.

I halved this recipe and it still made heaps of meatballs. 

 Tzatziki

What you'll need:
 2 cups (560g) thick Greek-style natural yoghurt (I just used Natural Yoghurt as that's what I had in the fridge)
1 Lebanese Cucumber, grated
2 tbs chopped Mint
1 clove Garlic, crushed
1 tbs Honey
1/2 tsp ground cumin
Sea Salt and cracked White Pepper

Method:
Place the yoghurt, cucumber, mint, garlic, honey, cumin, salt and pepper in a bowl and stir to combine.

I made half of the Tzatziki recipe also, and it was great and so refreshing. Went soooooo well with the meatballs. I grated the cucumber with a really fine grater and squeezed the excess liquid out of them before adding them to the yoghurt or the dish would've been really runny. For a first Tzatziki, it tasted awesome.

This would make great party food too. A toothpick in the meatballs for individual serves. Easy peasy and so tasty!!