Okay so technically summer break is “over” but it’s still 80+ degrees in LA and I’m living for an outdoor dinner party and these Mediterranean Meatballs tossed on some herby pasta is exactly the kind of dinner I want these days.
I’m pretty sure it’s still summer in most of the country too. We just got back from Salt Lake City and San Francisco and it was well about 85+ most of those places! So let’s make the most of it shall we and break out a new Mediterranean inspired meatball recipe that gets tossed with some herby-tomato-y pasta from Delallo! It’s basically a mash up of my 2 favorite summer vacations recently - Greece and Italy - into 1 spectacular meal hence the Mediterranean meatballs!
First - let’s talk meatballs! Two summers ago when we went to Greece for a few weeks we ate ALL THE SPANIKOPITA. All of it. I’m fairly sure there was none left for the locals. One of the restaurants served Spanikopita Lamb Meatballs as an appetizer and I’m fairly certain my life changed in that very instant. The herbs and feta couples with the meat. Game over. Now I know we’re not all into lamb, so I opted for ground chicken for these - but know that you could also use ground lamb or turkey or beef!!
Now let’s talk about the Italian part of these! Pasta or as I like to refer to it… hard carbs, also my love language and also my favorite way to kick off a weekend. We’re using DeLallo pasta which comes from a town near Naples, very close to where we spent the summer a few years back in the Amalfi Coast. The Delallo pasta starts with the very best quality wheat which has the highest gluten index, gluten content and protein content… all of which affect how the past cooks, and how its tastes. Their pasta is slowly dried at low temperatures to mimic the traditional way of making pasta back in the old days. All of this means that when you cook the pasta - you’re getting the best result. Just boil it until al dente and then you’re in business. Grab the full recipe below and happy weekend-ing!
Greek Meatball Pasta
Ingredients
For the meatballs
- 1 pound ground chicken
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 cup finely chopped spinach
- 6 cloves garlic finely chopped
- ½ cup crumbled feta
- ⅓ cup chives finely chopped
- ¼ cups sliced green onions
- ¼ cup parsley finely chopped
- ¼ cup finely diced sun dried tomatoes packed in olive oil
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 lemon zested
- ¼ cup olive oil
For the pasta
- 1 lb Delallo Pasta
- 4 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 pint cherry tomatoes halved
- 4 cloves garlic roughly chopped
- ½ cup crumbled feta
- Scallions and Chives to garnish
- Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
Instructions
- Combine all the meatball ingredients except the olive oil in a large bowl. Form the mixture into small meatballs, just smaller than a golf ball.
- Heat the olive oil in a large heavy bottom skillet over medium high heat. Once the oil is hot, add half of the meatballs and sauté for 3-4 minutes, turning every so often to brown the outside and then continue cooking through for about 6 minutes more. Once the meatballs are cooked, remove them from the oil and repeat the process with the remaining meatballs.
- In a large skillet, heat the 4 tablespoons of olive oil over medium high heat. Add the cherry tomatoes and saute until they start to fall apart. Add the chopped garlic and season with salt and pepper.
- Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain and combine all the pieces into a summer greek meatball pasta and garnish with herbs and feta.
Notes
Nutrition Information
Photo by Matt Armendariz (that's him right above!!) / Food Styling by Adam Pearson / Recipe from What’s Gaby Cooking
Love love love this recipe!
Looks so good! Can you use frozen spinach? Also, when you say lemon zested do you mean the juice and zest or just the zest? 🙂
zest!! and yes you can - just drain first before using frozen spinach
Delicious! Tasty way to make meatballs! I used beef vs. chicken and substituted red onions for the green onions and chives. Browned the meatballs on the stove and finished them slowly in the oven. Made the pasta creamier by adding several tablespoons of plain yogurt, plus more yogurt to serve.
Hi Gaby - I live in Florida and shop at Publix. They don’t seem to have Delallo pasta. and what about Barrillo?
Would it be in a different area of the supermarket...not where the dried pasta is? Or do you know where I can buy it. Thanks. Can’t wait to make this dish!
PS. I bought you Mom’s white ceramic bowls/plates...and LOVE them!
omg so happy you love your ceramics!! you can use a different pasta for sure!
This was the Best !!! Thank you !!! No problems, friends loved it !!!
Is it two cops of spinach leaves chopped or two cups after chopping. My meatballs are falling apart.
My husband LOVED it! Definitely a "keeper" recipe. I added about 1/3 c. pasta water to give it a little sauce. The meatballs were delicious and very flavorful with only 1 c. chopped spinach but will try to pulverize the 2 c. next try.
Meatballs were barely edible. More like spinach balls. Next time will double the chicken and half the spinach!
These meatballs were delicious! But, did you really only have 1 lb of meat and 2 cups of chopped spinach? It was very hard to keep these meatballs to hold a shape and I think next time I'll either add more meat or use less so they stay balls...in any case, so flavorful! Great recipe thank you!
yup! 2 cups - you can pulverize it in a food processor if that's easier! It helps it stay together
This yummy meatball recipe screams FALL in the northeast - I would definitely substitute ground lamb!! Thank you again for all your fantastic recipes (lots of hard work, I know). I so enjoy your blogs/vacation trips, etc.
Delicious!!! Love Delallo!!!
Looks amazing! Can you clarify the chives? It says ? Cup chives. Thanks!
I used 2 lbs of ground beef and it was delicious! All the herbs in the meatballs and the feta in that pasta...EVERYTHING. Thanks for sharing!