Aleppo Lamb Meatballs in Sour Cherry Sauce on Toasted Pita

What you need

• 500 g (1 lb 2 oz) ground lamb, from the shoulder, not too lean
• 1 small onion, grated
• 1/2 tsp allspice, ground
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper, freshly ground
• 1 bunch parsley, flat-leaf, leaves finely chopped
• 2 tbsp butter, 1 tbsp for browning, 1 tbsp melted for the bread
• 600 g (1 lb 5 oz) pitted sour cherries, fresh or frozen, with their juice
• 2 tbsp sugar
• 1 tbsp pomegranate molasses
• 2 pita breads, split into 2 rounds each
• 30 g (1 oz) pine nuts

Method

Restated from the original video

1. 1

   Toast the pine nuts in a dry frying pan over medium heat, stirring, until golden, 3-4 min. Tip them onto a plate.

2. 2

   Squeeze the grated onion to remove its liquid. Knead it into the lamb with the allspice, salt, black pepper and half of the parsley until the mixture feels sticky.

3. 3

   Roll the mixture into balls about 2 cm (3/4 in) wide, roughly 30 in all.

4. 4

   Melt 1 tbsp of the butter in a large frying pan over medium heat. Brown the meatballs in two batches, turning, until golden on the outside, 4-5 min per batch. Lift them out onto a plate.

5. 5

   Put the cherries with their juice, the sugar and the pomegranate molasses in a wide pot. Heat until it bubbles, then lower the heat to medium-low.

6. 6

   Simmer, stirring now and then, until the juices turn syrupy and coat a spoon, 15-20 min.

7. 7

   Add the meatballs to the sauce and simmer gently, covered, until cooked through with no pink inside, 12-15 min.

8. 8

   Heat the oven to 200 °C (400 °F). Cut the pita rounds into triangles and bake them on a tray until crisp at the edges, 5-6 min.

9. 9

   Spread the pita triangles over a platter and brush with the remaining 1 tbsp melted butter.

10. 10

    Spoon the meatballs and sauce over the pita. Scatter with the pine nuts and the remaining parsley and serve at once, before the bread softens too far.

Imported from inspiced.co. Recipe Grab pulled out what you need to cook it; the video stays where its author put it.