Cooking with Carlina: Lamb Meatball Pitas

Almost a year ago I became enamored with my quest to document my cooking skills in the kitchen, and the self-titled series, albeit a bit narcissistic, "Cooking with Carlina" was born. At the time I was working full time at my Marketing office day job, coming home after a tiring workout and determined to whip up something tasty but healthy that would satisfy both my husband and me after a long day. I was inspired by a recipe I saw on Design Love Fest's site and decided to make a version of my own with the ingredients I had on hand in the kitchen. I shared it once, then twice and a third time with lots of wine consumption, cameos from said husband and the feedback from those watching the stories was overwhelmingly positive! I definitely never expected that the comment I would hear the most in the coming weeks was that you guys actually liked following a fashion blogger discuss her kitchen skills on Sunday night's when I tried "Cooking with Carlina" -- it was relatable, easy to follow along, and entertaining, per some of your generous feedback.

So here, months and months later, as promised, is the full recipe on how to make my lamb meatball pitas, below. It is my take on Mediterranean/Greek food and can be made relatively quickly with little to no prior experience in the kitchen, I promise! I'd love to hear if you make this recipe in the comments below or if you think you'll attempt to make it.

 

Ingredients needed:

• 1 lb. of organic ground lamb, I get mine at Whole Foods
• 1 egg
• 1/4 cup of finely chopped cilantro
• 1/2 of a yellow onion
• 1/2 cup of Feta
• Salt and pepper
• 2-3 day old chunk of baguette to make a quick batch of breadcrumbs, enough for 2-3 tablespoons
• 4 tablespoons of greek yogurt
• a bunch of mint or parsley
• juice from 1/2 of a lemon or lime
• 4-6 pita rounds
• 1/2 an English cucumber (garnish)
• 1/2 a tomato (garnish) 

Directions:

1. Wash hands ;)
2. Roughly chop onion, cilantro, and feta 
3. Take 2-3 day old baguette and throw into a blender to turn into roughly chopped breadcrumbs
4. Mix the egg into a large bowl
5. Put the lamb into the same bowl with mixed egg, then add chopped onion, cilantro, feta, and salt and pepper
6. Mix all ingredients with your hands (take your rings off for best results, you want to get in there!)
7. Take one and a half tablespoons of mixture into the palms of your hands and roll into balls
8. Mold the rest of the lamb mixture
9. Now there are two ways to cook, for a more crispy texture fry lamb meatballs in a few teaspoons of olive oil; for a healthy alternative bake meatballs in the oven (like I did) at 350 degrees for 45 minutes
10. To make the yogurt sauce mix the yogurt, chopped mint/parsley, lemon, and salt well
11. Thinly slice your English cucumber and tomatoes 
12. Warm up your pitas and spread a layer of yogurt sauce on the pita
13. Add three meatballs onto of yogurt sauce
14. Add a garnish of tomatoes, cucumbers, and cilantro on top
15. Pour yourself a glass of wine (this might as well be step one)
16. Enjoy your meal!

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