Dominique Rizzo | Bespoke Food Tours
Spicy Meatballs in Lettuce with Salsa
Easy
Prep 20 min Cook 45 min
I love these tasty Spicy Meatballs in Lettuce with Salsa for a party and they are especially favoured by kids, who love the crunchiness of the fresh lettuce.
Makes about 25 meatballs, depending on the size.
Meat Ball Ingredients
• 500g minced beef
• 1 medium onion, finely diced
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed or chopped
• 2 tsps. mild or medium curry powder
• 2 tsps. ground cumin
• 1 tsp. garam masala
• ½ tsp. paprika or cayenne pepper
• 2 tbsps. fresh coriander, chopped
• 50g fresh breadcrumbs
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 ice berg lettuce
• Tooth picks
Substitute Ingredients:
Beef Mince – Minced
• Chicken
• Pork
• Prawn
Sauce Ingredients:
• 1 x 400g tin diced tomatoes
• 1 tbsp. olive oil
• 1 tbsp. minced ginger
• 1 tbsp. minced chilli
• 1 tbsp. minced garlic
Recipe Steps
Heat oven to 180 C.
Put the mince into the mixing bowl. Add the onions, garlic, curry powder, cumin, garam masala, paprika or cayenne pepper and coriander, and then mix well. By adding these spices, you’ll get a delicious flavour without having to add any salt. Add the breadcrumbs, and then mix again.
Divide the meat mixture into 20 g even sized pieces and shape into balls (they should be about the size of a walnut).
Heat the oil in the frying pan over a medium heat and add in the meatballs. Cook them for about 3 mins before turning; continue to cook until golden brown and cooked through. To finish cooking them you can bake them in the oven for 15mins.
Once cooked, allow the meatballs to cool slightly before wrapping with a fresh, crisp lettuce leaf and dolloping with the salsa .
For the tomato sauce, fry the chilli, garlic and ginger in the oil then pour in the tomatoes, cook for 20 minutes on a low temperature until slightly thickened.