Here is a recipe I like to make often. It’s fast, easy and really tasty! I love Mediterranean flavors and these ones really enhance a good beef meat. I used green olives, but it’s only a matter of taste, you can replace them by black olives if you prefer. Replace capers by sun-dried tomatoes and you have a new Mediterranean meatballs recipe .

Preparation time: 20 mn  Cooking time: 15 mn

Ingredients (for 4 servings)

18 oz (500 g) of ground beef meat
5 tablespoons of stoned green olives
5 oz (140 g) of feta cheese (1 1/2 oz for topping + 3 1/2 for mixture)
4 tablespoons of dried breadcrumbs
7 tablespoons of milk
4 tomatoes
2 eggs
3 tablespoons of olive oil
1 big onion
2 teaspoons of capers
Salt and pepper

Instructions

1/ Soak breadcrumbs in milk in a small bowl.

2/ Peel and chop onion.

3/ Heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil in a pan over medium heat. Add onion and let it melt gently.

4/ In a salad bowl combine meat, eggs and breadcrumbs. Add salt.

5/ When onions are translucent and soft, take them off heat and let them cool down.

6/ Chop olives and feta cheese. Combine with meat mixture.

7/ When onions have cooled down a little, add to mixture along with capers.

8/ Shape into meatballs. (Don’t make them too big, they would be more difficult to keep in one piece. A good size is slightly  bigger than the tomato slice you’re going to add on top )

9/ Preheat oven to 350° F (180° C/Th 6).

10/ Heat in a pan over medium/high heat 2 minutes on each side.

11/ Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil to an ovenproof dish and dispose meatballs.

12/ Rinse and slice tomatoes.

13/ Add a tomato slice on top of each meatball. Top with feta cheese, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, salt and pepper.

14/ Bake in oven for 15 minutes or until feta cheese has a nice golden color.

Serve with gratin dauphinois,  green asparagus, mushroom baked potatoes or spinach soufflés.

Asparagus season has come I love that time of the year when in season fruits and vegetables’ list starts growing. Here is a simple recipe to enjoy green asparagus with little cooking to make. You can serve them as a starter but it will also make a perfect side dish for fish. We had them with salmon, it came out great.

Preparation time: 20 mn

Ingredients (for 3 to 4 servings)

2.2 lbs (1 kg) of fresh green asparagus
6 or 7 basil leaves
1 non-treated lemon
1 teaspoon of capers
6 tablespoons of olive oil
4 tablespoons of balsamiq vinegar
Salt & pepper

Instructions

1/ Take water to a boil in a large pan.

2/ Clean asparagus. Peel the last third on the opposite side of the head and cut the hard end off.

3/ When water is boiling, add asparagus and leave for 8 to 10 minutes.

4/ Clean lemon and grate zest.

5/ Rinse and chop basil.

6/ Prepare vinaigrette in a bowl by mixing oil, vinegar, salt and pepper. Stir energetically.

7/ When asparagus are tender, take them off water and lay them next to each other in a plate.

8/ Top asparagus with capers, chopped basil, lemon zest and a pinch of salt.

9/ Serve right away.

We’re not exactly in the middle of the tomatoes’ season but I made these stuffed tomatoes a few days ago for a dinner with a vegetarian friend of mine and it came out pretty good

Preparation Time: 15 mn – Cooking Time: 15 to 20 mn

Ingredients (for 4 to 6 servings)

8 big tomatoes
1/2 lbs (225g) of feta cheese
4 slices of bread
2 garlic cloves
5 tablespoons of olive oil
3 tablespoons of fresh cream (crème fraiche you can replace it by Quark or fromage blanc)
1 tablespoon of capers
1 tablespoon of thyme (or parsley if you prefer)
Salt & Pepper

Instructions:

1/ Clean tomatoes and carefully cut off the tops. Scoop out pulp (very easy with a teaspoon, just be careful not to break the bottom of the tomato). Chop pulp finely and leave aside.

2/ Take out crumb from bread and dice it.

3/ Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a pan; brown crumb dices and chopped garlic.

4/ Preheat oven to 400° F (200° C – Th 7).

5/ Dice feta cheese. Combine it with fresh cream, salt and pepper. Add thyme, capers and crumb dices.

6/ Put tomatoes in an oiled baking dish. Fill with mixture. Put tops back on tomatoes.

7/ Pour chopped pulp between tomatoes (not everything if you have a lot). Add salt & pepper and 3 tablespoons of olive oil on top.

8/ Bake in oven for 15 to 20 minutes. Serve with a salad or rice.

Note that the picture was taken before the dish was ready, your tomatoes should have more « wrinkles » when ready to get out the oven.