LAMB MEATBALL SANDWICHES w/SOFRITO

By BobD

Ingredients

• 4 SERVINGS
• 1 pound ground lamb
• ¼ pound ground pork
• ¼ cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
• 2 teaspoons chopped fresh mint leaves
• 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
• Zest of 1 lemon
• ½ teaspoon chile powder
• ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
• Kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 cup finely diced yellow onion
• 1 cup white wine
• ½ teaspoon crushed saffron threads
• 1 cup stewed canned tomatoes (such as Muir Glen), roughly chopped
• 4 Italian or French rolls, split lengthwise

Details

Servings 4

Preparation

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 350˚ and line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Make the meatballs:

In a large bowl, mix the lamb with the pork, parsley, mint, thyme, lemon zest, chile powder, cayenne and ¾ teaspoon salt until well combined.

Shape the mixture into 20 golf-ball-size meatballs and arrange them on the baking sheet.

Bake until browned and cooked through, about 18 minutes.

Make the sofrito:

Heat the olive oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring frequently, until soft and translucent, about 6 minutes.

Increase the heat to medium-high and add the wine and saffron.

Simmer the wine until reduced by half, about 4 minutes. Stir in the tomatoes and cook until the sauce thickens slightly, about 3 minutes. Season with salt.

Stir the meatballs into the sofrito. Stuff 5 meatballs inside each roll. Spoon the sofrito over the top and serve immediately.