Having recently been experimenting with lots of different ingredients in the kitchen, I thought I’d write a bit of a different post. So I’d like start to sharing some recipes that are great for little fingers to explore textures and flavours. I am following baby-led weaning with my little one so a lot of these recipes will have chunky bits for baby to hold and explore. The first recipe I’d like to share is to make lamb meat keftedes (meatballs). These are usually made into balls but I like to roll them into mini sausages as I find its easier for my baby to hold them.

Lamb is a great source of iron and zinc. Using minced lamb makes the meat softer for baby to enjoy, and having the meat rolled into little sausages encourages them to chew.

Mini Lamb Greek Keftedes (Meatballs)

Ingredients

Makes around 12 small meatballs, takes around 30 minutes (10 minutes prep, and another 15-20 minutes cooking time)

500g Lamb mince (20% fat), 2 garlic cloves minced, 1 slice of wholemeal bread (soak in a little whole milk to moisten), 2 to 3 fresh spring onions (washed, stems cut, and chopped into small pieces), 1/2 lemon zest and juice, 2 tsp plain flour, 2 tsp oregano, 1 tbsp olive oil

For tzatziki: 500g Greek yoghurt (Fage Total 5% works really well), 1/2 large Cucumber (or a whole small one), 2 garlic cloves crushed, 2 small handfuls of dill chopped, 1 tbsp olive oil

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C fan assisted oven (220°C, Gas 7).
2. Add all the ingredients into a large bowl and stir well. You can squeeze with your hands to make sure that all the ingredients are well mixed into the meat.
3. Take a small amount of the mixture and roll it into small sausage shaped bites in the palm of your hand.
4. Line a baking tray with a greased baking sheet and place the meatballs about 2cm apart from each other. Bake for around 20 minutes or until golden and cooked through.
5. Whilst the keftedes are cooking, prepare the tzatziki. Wash and grate the cucumber. Wrap in a clean tea towel and drain liquids (this is necessary as otherwise the tzatziki will be very watery). Mix the yoghurt, grated cucumber, garlic, dill and olive oil in a bowl.
6. Serve the keftedes with the tzatziki and pita bread, with some salad leaves.

Tips

Some babies might find garlic and lemon flavours strong. It’s important that we introduce all kinds of different flavours and textures so my suggestion would be that if you think the flavours will be too strong, to reduce the quantities used but still keep them in the recipe.

I like to use spring onions, but if you don’t have any, chives or just half an onion work really well too.

These mini lamb keftedes can be stored in the fridge for up to 2 days or freeze for up to 2 months.