Beef meatballs with broad beans & lemon from Jerusalem (page 196) by Yotam Ottolenghi and Sami Tamimi

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Accompaniments: Basmati rice & orzo

Always check the publication for a full list of ingredients. An Eat Your Books index lists the main ingredients and does not include 'store-cupboard ingredients' (salt, pepper, oil, flour, etc.) - unless called for in significant quantity.

Notes about this recipe

  • joeljkp on April 20, 2025

    We loved this. Great flavor to the meatballs. A bit saucier than pictured, which was ok. Served with rice and vermicelli pilaf so as not to compete with the flavors of the meatballs.

  • sarahawker on June 08, 2019

    Delicious. Kids loved the intensely flavored meatballs. Great way to use a lot of random herbs. I subbed carrot tops for the parsley. Simple but takes some time. Absolutely make this again.

  • ameliark on March 24, 2019

    So delicious! Absolutely loved it. It’s actually quite easy to make, but there’s lots of chopping, and measuring the spices (I made the baharat spice mix), and forming the meatballs, and that’s before you actually get to cooking them so it took me a while, but the time investment is worth it. Quite fresh and light for a meatball dish. I served it with basmati rice and orzo as suggested, and also a chopped salad.

  • cultus.girl on November 27, 2018

    Outstanding dish full of flavour. I agree time consuming however well worth the effort. I make it when we have our broad bean crop and because we pick the beans while the pods are young, I don’t bother peeling half. Just the larger ones if any.

  • Silverscreensuppers on August 09, 2016

    Love, love, love this recipe. I thought these were divine. Agree that it's labour intensive, but it's worth it.

  • twoyolks on June 28, 2014

    The sauce was quite good but the meatballs themselves were too bready (I used the weight measurement). I'm not sure what the unshelled fava beans add. I would've preferred them shelled.

  • saladdays on January 25, 2014

    Work out how long you think you may need to cook this and then add another half an hour! A labour intensive recipe but worth the effort. I used beef mince only and found I couldn't mix all the onion in. If I made it again I would put the onion in the food processor rather than just chop it by hand. It would help the meatballs to stick together. The first time I have used Baharat spice and loved it. I have always felt life is too short to skin broad beans but it was certainly worth it for this dish.

  • TrishaCP on June 21, 2013

    Fairly intensive labor-wise, but the payoff is an incredibly light tasting meatball. The lemon and herbs do a lot to brighten the dish. I haven't had favas with the skins on before, and because they are so expensive where I live (purchased from farmer's market and frozen during the summer)- I just shelled them all. For some reason, I also ended up with significantly more sauce than I was supposed to, so I just reduced it down some. Served with the Basmati Rice and Orzo as suggested.

  • purpleshiny on May 28, 2013

    Loved this dish. The only fava beans I could find were already steamed, so I didn't get the beautiful green color either. I thought the spices were beautifully balanced. From what I've read, the Baharat mix can vary considerably depending on who makes it (our Middle Eastern grocery literally labeled theirs as "Mixed Spices" - we had to ask to find it). Ours is more like a 5 spice powder (at least, that's how it smells). I simmered my meatballs for about 5 minutes at the end to reduce the sauce - once I did that, my sauce and meatballs looked exactly like the picture. Agree on reducing the onions slighly - I used half of what I would term a medium-large onion and it was almost too much. Subbed taragon for mint for the finishing herbs as my garden mint isn't tall enough yet to supply the meatballs and the sauce. Would make that substitution again.

  • Jane on January 14, 2013

    My dish had a lot more sauce and did not look as enticing as the picture. He says you want a lot of sauce but the picture really just looks like a glaze. I served it with the Basmati rice and orzo on p.103 so plenty of sauce was necessary. I used frozen fava beans so didn't shell half of them as I was running short of time. I think the greenness of the shelled beans in the picture definitely helped the visual appeal. But it tasted great. I loved the lemony, herby sauce and the meatballs had good texture and taste (I also used all beef). The amount of breadcrumbs seemed far too much when I was making the meatball mixture but it worked out fine. I liked the spice levels but my daughter thought it was far too heavy on the cumin (not a big fan). There is cumin in the baharat spice mix plus another tablespoon of ground cumin, which I had freshly ground, so I suppose that is quite a lot. This was quite a time-consuming dish when it was all done in one night. Worth it though!

  • Breadcrumbs on January 11, 2013

    p. 196 - Lovely lemony dish. I made these modifications: • I didn’t have any ground lamb so I just used beef. • I Baked meatballs for 35mins at 375 vs frying • I was sad that I had to use canned favas (hence their grayish colour) • I purchased my Baharat spice mix and I found the flavours to be quite balanced and reminiscent of Asian Five-Spice Powder. The meat mixture smelled amazing as I was tossing everything together. My sous chef (golden retriever) agreed! We loved everything about this dish. The meatballs were juicy, tender and beautifully seasoned. The sauce was delicious; we especially enjoyed the subtle tang from the lemon juice. I’m sure I could have finished off all the sauce by myself, in a cup!! I served this atop the Saffron Rice with Barberries (p. 195) and thought the dishes paired well together with the tang of the barberries mirroring that of the lemon in the meatball dish. Photos here: http://chowhound.chow.com/topics/884302#7817560

  • Delys77 on January 02, 2013

    Pg. 196 Another classic comfort food from the master Ottolenghi. Admittedly it is a very different kind of comfort food than I am used to, with it's lovely combination of lamb and beef, with the earthy fava and just a hint of citrus, but it screams comfort food all the same. Very tasty dish as written, but I would make a few small changes. I would count down the onion by about 1/3 and I would pair back the cloves in the spice mix by about half as it was a bit strong for some of those who tried the meatballs. Otherwise a very tasty dish for fall or winter.

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