These meatballs are inspired by the famous Persian pomegranate and walnut stew called "Fesnjoon." The traditional dish consists of chicken, duck, chicken, or beef. The meat is stewed in luscious pomegranate molasses and walnut sauce. These meatballs have beef, walnut meal, and pomegranate molasses as the primary ingredients.
Ingredients:
For meatballs:
½ cup fine walnut meal ( store-bought or made by processing 1 cup of chopped walnut)
1 TBSP canola oil
1 medium yellow onion, finely chopped
1 Pound (~450 gr) 80/20 ground beef
2 TBSP Chinese chives, finely chopped (substitute with regular chives or, simply, the green parts of scallions)
1 TSP dried tarragon
3 cloves of garlic, grated
2 TBSP tomato paste
For the glaze:
1 cup pomegranate juice
1 blood orange, juice
1 sour orange (or lemon), Juice
1 TBSP honey (subject to change based on taste)
Salt, pepper and Cayenne to taste
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Toast the walnuts until fragrant then blend coarsely and set aside. Combine the glaze ingredients in a saucepan and reduce to by two thirds or to a thick consistency (keep in mind that the sauce gets thicker as it cools down). In another pan, sauté the onions; when translucent, add tomato paste and toast in the oil for a minute. Set aside to cool.
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Combine the herbs (the fresh and the dried), garlic, beef, walnut and tomato mixture along with salt and pepper and mix well.
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Make 12 large meatballs and glaze with half of the pomegranate mixture. Refrigerate for half an hour to marinade (optional step but highly recommended).
Roast in a hot oven (as hot as your oven goes; 500F, I assume) until the meatballs are crispy outside. Brush with the other half of the glaze and serve.
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You can use the zest of the orange to make the Persian favorite zereshk-polo(saffron-barberries-zest topped rice). The above picture dish was Valentine's day inspired. The only minor issue was the fact that I had no Valentine to offer it to!
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