Lamb Meatballs in Cherry Sauce

I served this dish to guests last night and everyone loved it. I made the pita bread from scratch. Next time, I'll substitute a white rice or a pilaf instead. The pita was very nice, but rice would be a lot quicker; I wouldn't use store-bought pita unless I knew it was very fresh. About the cherries to use: the original recipe calls for 2-1/4 pounds of sour cherries, but gives the option of substituting dried cherries. The only fresh or frozen cherries available to me are sweet cherries. The good news is that dried cherries (much easier to find, and reasonably priced at Costco) are made from Montmorency cherries, which are sour. I happened to have some pomegranate molasses on hand; you can find this in specialty food stores, or you can easily make it yourself, recipe here. About the 7-spice mixture--I did make up the mixture, but the taste is not dominant, so if you don't have all these spices on hand, I think it would be fine just with allspice. If you check the original recipe, you'll see that I doubled the meatball recipe, but kept the sauce recipe the same and it was ample.

lamb meatballs in sour cherry sauce (kebab karaz)

adapted from: https://cooking.nytimes.com/recipes/1019343-meatballs-in-sour-cherry-sauce-kabab-karaz

yield: 6-8 servings

I sautéed the meatballs, as directed below. Another option would be to bake the meatballs, I'm thinking at 400 degrees for about 20 minutes. This would be easier, but I didn't try it this time because of not wanting to heat up the kitchen with the oven on.

meatballs

2 lbs lean ground lamb, from the leg or shoulder

1 t. sea salt

1 t. Lebanese 7-spice mixture (see below) or allspice

2 T. unsalted butter

cherry sauce

15 oz. dried cherries (Montmorency), soaked overnight in 2 cups water (or 2-1/4 lbs fresh or frozen sour cherries, no added water)

1 T. raw cane (or brown) sugar

1 T. pomegranate molasses

Lebanese 7-spice mixture

Combine the following:

1/2 t. each black pepper, allspice, cinnamon

a little less than 1/4 t. each ground coriander, ground cloves, ground ginger, nutmeg

assembly

2-3 pita breads, each split into 2 disks and cut into medium triangles (or substitute white rice or pilaf)

about 1 T. chopped parsley

1/2 c. pine nuts, toasted 5-7 minutes in the oven or in a pan on the stove, until lightly golden

1.     If baking the meatballs, preheat oven to 400.

2.     Make the sauce: Put the cherries and their soaking water, along with the sugar and pomegranate juice, in a pot large enough to eventually hold the meatballs. Bring to a boil over medium heat, then reduce heat to medium-low and simmer for 15-25 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce has thickened.

3.     While the sauce is cooking, make the meatballs: Mix the lamb, salt, and spice mixture (or allspice) and shape into small balls, the size of large marbles (about 1"). Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat and sauté the meatballs just until lightly browned. (Or bake, about 20 minutes in 400-degree oven.) Remove meatballs with a slotted spoon and set aside.

4.     Cook meatballs in sauce:  Add the meatballs to the sauce and simmer for another 15 minutes, until tender. (Once they were done, I left the meatballs on a very low heat for about 40 minutes, until I was ready to serve them.)

5.     Assemble the dish: If using pita bread: Arrange the triangles in a circle around the edge of the plate, and then fill the circle with the rest of the pieces. If using rice, spoon the rice into the serving dish. Spoon the meat and sauce over the bread/rice. Sprinkle the chopped parsley all over, then the toasted pine nuts. Serve immediately.