Berbere, a warming Ethiopian spice blend, punches up these incredibly easy meatballs.
Adapted from Bäco: Vivid Recipes From the Heart of Los Angeles by Josef Centeno and Betty Hallock, Chronicle Books (2017).
Ingredients
4 servings
1
4
3
3
1½
1
¾
3
1
2
2
3
8
1
Preparation
Step 1
Preheat oven to 400°. Whisk egg, grated garlic, miso, milk, berbere, and 1 tsp. salt in a large bowl. Mix in Pecorino and panko. Add beef and currants and gently mix with your hands just until all ingredients are evenly incorporated (be careful not to overmix).
Step 2
Working one at a time, scoop out 2 heaping Tbsp. (about 1½ oz.) mixture and roll into balls between your palms. Place on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet, spacing 2" apart (you should end up with about 15). Bake meatballs until lightly browned on top and cooked through, 20–25 minutes.
Step 3
Meanwhile, place kale in a large colander in the sink and pour 8 cups boiling water over top to wilt leaves. Run under cold water to rinse, then squeeze leaves thoroughly with your hands to remove excess liquid.
Step 4
Heat 2 Tbsp. oil in a large skillet over medium-high. Add radishes and cook, tossing occasionally, until golden and crisp-tender, 5–7 minutes. Add kale and stir, breaking up leaves, until warmed through. Push kale and radishes to one side of skillet. Pour remaining 1 Tbsp. oil on the empty side and add sliced garlic. As soon as garlic starts to sizzle, stir it into vegetables. Remove pan from heat and add lemon juice to mixture; season with salt. Toss well.
Step 5
Tear meatballs in half and add to skillet along with any pan juices. Toss everything together; divide among plates.
Leave a Review
Reviews (10)
Back to TopThis recipe is delicious AND easy AND one can totally substitute "Impossible" or a vegan meatless substitute along with the vegan "Just Egg." I didn't use vegan cheese, but my guess is that you could substitute that as well.
tammy Stanley
Salem OR
3/10/2024
BF said “best meatball ever.” Kale and radishes were good, but I’ll be putting miso in all future meatballs! I also tried with lamb, and it was even better.
Jencle
Cleveland
2/17/2024
Some of our favorite meatballs! For one pound of beef I used: 2.5 generous tbsp of miso (honestly probably the prescribed 3 lol) Double the garlic No salt in the meat GF panko 4 chopped pitted dates Make sure to really drain the water from the kale before putting it back with the other veggies. This is perfection.
Erin
Salt Lake City, UT
4/10/2022
So tasty! And easy enough to make. Meatballs were moist and so flavorful. I've never had cooked radishes and now I think I only want them like this. Sizzling them up in the pan makes them turn almost pink - with the dark green kale and then the meatballs this meal is just beautiful.
Molly
California
12/13/2020
Ridiculously good. The miso does a beautiful job of adding depth of flavor (brilliant idea...miso in meatballs!) and helping the seemingly chronic problem of the under-salted meatball (am I the only one that has that problem?) Made these for a group of 40 ranging in age 2 to 78 and they were a crowd-pleaser all around!
Anonymous
California
4/11/2018
These meatballs are amazing. We loved them! I subbed red miso for white and almond meal for panko, and they turned out great. Side note, they were called "baked beef meatballs with sweet spices" in the 9/17 issue.
Anonymous
Brooklyn, NY
2/24/2018
These were amazing and very easy to make!
jamiehaneke
Florida
10/21/2017