These tender Italian meatballs are delicious, lemony and just the perfect comforting winter meal. Serve them with steamed green veggies and potato or cauliflower mash.
Replace the pork with chicken mince if you like and vary the fresh herbs; any combination of rosemary, thyme, oregano and sage would be lovely. The meatballs can also be frozen and reheated.
This recipe is inspired by ones from a few websites & cookbooks; The Kitchn, Italy on my Mind, Chez Panisse & Istria.
Italian Pork Meatballs with Thyme & Lemon
Ingredients
Meatballs:
- 1 small brown onion
- 500 grams pork mince
- 1 cup parmesan , finely grated
- 1 large egg
- 2 tsp lemon zest , finely grated
- 2 tsp Italian dried herb mix , or dried oregano
- 2 tbsp fresh thyme , finely chopped
- 2 tbsp fresh sage or rosemary , finely chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Sauce:
- 1/2 cup white wine
- 3/4 cup chicken bone broth
- 1/4 cup lemon juice
Garnish:
- 3 tsp extra thyme leaves
- 3 tsp lemon zest
Instructions
- Grate the onion and then squeeze out most of the liquid.
- Add the onion, pork, parmesan, egg, lemon zest, dried herbs, fresh herbs, salt & pepper to a large bowl. Mix thoroughly with your hands and then shape into small meatballs. You can make the meatballs a few hours or up to 24 hours in advance & store in the fridge.
- Heat the olive oil over a medium heat in a large frypan. Cook the meatballs until lightly browned on all sides, about 15 minutes. Set the meatballs aside in a warm place.
- Add all of the sauce ingredients to the same frypan and simmer over a high heat , scraping the bottom of the pan with a wooden spoon, until reduced by about half. This will take approximately 3 minutes.
- Serve the meatballs on a bed of mash, with steamed greens, pour over some sauce and sprinkle with the extra thyme leaves & lemon zest.
