Meatballs served with Pita and Tzatziki Sauce

I think this recipe came about while I was reading some magazine and drooling over a chef in the mid-west cooking eastern-european food. He was making meatballs and serving them in pita bread like bread topped with a tzatziki sauce like concoction. I love tzatziki sauce- creamy, garlicky and cool tasting.

While I was in college, I would go help out at my family’s deli. We would serve delicious gyros with the tzatziki sauce. My Mom would make it with sour cream and grated cucumbers. I remember eating the sauce with fries- aah, the good old days when I could eat anything I wanted and not worry about gaining weight. All of these memories prompted me to make the sauce with the meatballs I had already concocted in my mind. I made my sauce with zero fat greek yogurt. It has all the creaminess and texture without the fat. Adding some fresh mint made it delicious.

While I was putting the ingredients together for the meatballs, I thought of falafels which are the middle-eastern meatless balls made out of a chickpea mixture. I decided to add some chickpeas in mine. It reminded me of shami kebabs – which are Indian kebabs made out of lamb and chickpeas. This ended up being a multi-cultural meal. 

I served the meatballs in pita breads topped with the creamy tzatziki sauce. I also had store-bought hummus which I thinned out by adding some lemon juice. I needed some color for garnish- so took some tomatoes from my backyard and let them sit in some salt and minced garlic. It was all very delicious- especially with the oven fries on the side. I opened a Malbec Rose with the meal and all was good!

Meatballs

• 1 pound ground pork
• ½ cup breadcrumbs
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 medium white onion, grated
• 1/3 parsley, chopped
• 1 tablespoon salt
• ½ cup canned chickpeas, mashed up
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

In a medium mixing-bowl, add the ground pork, breadcrumbs, garlic, egg, onion, parsley, salt and chickpeas. Mix well till everything is incorporated. Keep aside for at least an hour. Form medium to large meatballs and coat with the flour.

In a large non-stick frying pan, heat the olive oil on medium high heat. Place the meatballs in the pan and brown on each side, 2-3 minutes per side. Lower the heat and cook for another 10 minutes till the meatballs are cooked inside.

• A pack of small pocket pitas, cut into half

Tzatziki Sauce

• ½ cup greek yogurt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• ½ cup chopped cucumber, extra water squeezed out
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• Juice of half a lemon
• 1 tablespoon fresh mint, chopped

In a small bowl add the yogurt, olive oil, cucumber, salt, garlic, lemon juice and fresh mint. Mix well and keep aside.

Chopped Tomatoes

• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, deseeded and chopped
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 teaspoon salt

In a small bowl, add the tomatoes, olive oil, garlic and salt. Keep aside for at least an hour. Serve on top of the meatballs and pita.