Roast meatballs with yoghurt sauce & chili butter

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 220 °C. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Step 2

Whizz the bread, onion and parsley in a small food processor until you have a fine, homogenous mixture. Transfer to a bowl and mix with the spices, egg, minced meat, salt and pepper. Cover and rest for 30 minutes, if you can, to allow the flavours to mingle.

Step 3

Shape the mixture into small meatballs. I use a generous teaspoon per meatball. Transfer the shaped meatballs to the prepared baking sheet.

Step 4

Bake the meatballs until cooked through, 15-20 minutes. For a darker colour, place them under the grill/broiler for the final couple of minutes or so. Keep an eye on it the whole time to ensure it doesn't burn.

Step 5

Meanwhile, make the yoghurt sauce by mixing yoghurt, garlic, egg and lemon juice in a small pan. Add boiling water little by little, whisking constantly. Place over low/medium heat and warm up gently, stirring regularly to ensure it doesn't curdle. Once warm, mix corn starch with water and add the mixture. Stir well and simmer until thickened, a few minutes. Don't dial up the heat too much, and keep stirring, or the sauce will curdle. Once thickened, take off the heat and season to taste with salt, pepper and (if you like) more lemon juice. I prefer this sauce fairly mild and creamy rather than tangy.

Step 6

Make the chili butter by adding the olive oil and butter to a small saucepan. Place over medium heat. Once the butter has melted and is bubbling, take off the heat and mix in the pul biber along with a little salt.

Step 7

To serve, add around half of the yoghurt sauce to your serving plate. Add the roasted meatballs, then the remaining yoghurt sauce followed by the chili butter and fresh herbs. Feel free to add as much or as little of the yoghurt sauce and chili butter as you like, leaving the rest on the side for people to help themselves to more. Serve immediately.