Lamb and mint meatballs
Brothy & bobbing
It seems to me that process-led, active cooking has largely fallen out of favour, or at least that’s what the internet would have us believe. In a world (an internet world?) where everyone is busy, recipes are specifically engineered to be the fastest this, the easiest that, one pot this, bung it all on a sheet tray that, no washing up this, the least effort that.
I understand, not everyone has the time to potter in the kitchen and tend to a pot of something-or-rather for an hour (or more), let alone the faff of washing up afterwards. There is a very significant place for speedy, easy breezy recipes that work within even the tightest constraints of life. But what feels disheartening to me is that with each new recipe that pops up on instagram or each new cookbook that hits the shelves claiming to be the solution to these constraints, I’m less and less sure of where the place for slower-paced, step-by-step cooking is, or if there is a place for it at all.
Take these meatballs, for example. They have more than ten ingredients. They are fried rather than baked because fried are simply better, in my opinion. They require two pots - one for the meatballs and one for the fregola. They are not especially quick to make - about an hour and a quarter I’d say, depending on how you prep/move/chop/generally go about things in the kitchen (everyone’s pace is different). They require you to get your hands (the best tool for the job) into a mixing bowl of mince and more. In other words, while they are not at all difficult to make, they are decidedly not the fastest this, the easiest that, one pot this, bung it all on a sheet tray that, no washing up this, the least effort that.
But I love making them just as much as I love eating them. I love picking the mint leaves, rolling them tightly and finely chopping until my kitchen smells like a herb patch. I love sinking my hands into the cool mince mixture, squelching just enough to distribute the flecks of mint and lemon zest. I love dividing the mixture up into balls, trying my best to do so evenly but always being left with an amount that doesn’t quite make a whole meatball so has to be shared between the balls that look as though they’ve been a little short-changed along the way. I love frying off a test patty to check for seasoning - a cook’s treat of the highest order! I love the moments at the hob when I’m trying to fry the meatballs on as many “sides” as possible (they’re round, they don’t have sides, but I’ll do my best in the pursuit of browning!), meaning the chitter chatter in my mind quietens as I focus on this task. I love watching the meatballs bob in their broth, like little buoys in a golden sea. I love adding the finishing touches: the final dollops of yoghurt, the sprinkles of chilli flakes, the fistfuls of mint, all reinforcing the flavours of the meatballs themselves.
All of this is to say, making meatballs is a process, and one that I enjoy. There is certainly a place for this sort of cooking in my kitchen, and I hope that there might be in yours too, as occasional as it may be.
Lamb and mint meatballs
