When the Gods have specific offering requests, I take dictation from them in the food preparation. They give me all the details from which ingredients to get to how to combine and cook them.

These lamb meatballs are the first thing Pluto asked me for after we made our contract commitment. I cannot in good faith call them keftedes despite any resemblance. There is no human lineage to this recipe.

Ingredients

• 1 pound ground lamb, room temperature
• Scant 1 teaspoon sea salt (I used sel gris)
• About 1/2 cup almond flour
• 1 egg
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon
• (Optional) 1 small onion or large shallot, grated on the fine side of a box grater
• 1-3 garlic cloves depending on your mood, pressed (my preference) or minced
• 1/3-1/2 cup chopped parsley

Method

Combine all the ingredients in the bowl. Just throw them all in there unceremoniously. Mix them together by hand until all the liquid is incorporated.

Form the mixture into chunky oblongs. I like to make two-biters, but do you. Some folks may prefer the charred and crispy outside of the meatball, in which case you should go small to maximize your surface area. Others may prefer the middle to be medium rare, in which case make them chonky.

Fry the meatballs in olive oil over medium heat. Let each side brown before turning them. I find that they stick to the pan surface even when I’m using nonstick, so I use my stainless steel pan, and I scrape the meatballs off the surface with a metal spatula before turning them gently with a fork and spoon because they’re tender. The scrape step keeps more of the crispy seared part *on* the meatball.

Cook the meatballs to your preference of doneness. Because there’s a lot of liquid mixed in, they won’t dry out, which is useful for folks who prefer their meat cooked all the way through.

Serving the meatballs

We just eat them straight up, right off the stove. I’m the type of person who balances my macros throughout a day rather than in each meal, so on days when I eat these meatballs, I plan to eat a lot of fiber and produce during my other meals.

For those who prefer each plate to have balanced food groups, these meatballs are friendly and play well with everything. The leading flavors are lemon, garlic, and parsley, which go with almost everything, so the net is wide. I can imagine them served simply over steamed rice with a side of stir fried greens. They would do well tossed together with pasta and tomato sauce, then dusted with Pecorino Romano. Even plated simply with roasted potatoes and a side of Caesar salad.

Note for the anxious

This recipe is a *very* low-stakes way to strengthen your uncertainty tolerance skill. The write up is laissez-faire and the instructions are vague because to make these meatballs well you must have personal preferences and your own style. People pleasers and perfectionists be warned, since there is no way to make this recipe “wrong,” there is also no way to “do it right” *without* being able to validate yourself.