Lamb Meatballs

At a friend's birthday party a few months ago I had these amazing lamb meatballs. The biggest surprise was that they contained pine nuts and I ate them. (I hate pine nuts. If I wanted to taste Christmas in my mouth, I would lick a pine tree. I really dislike pine nuts and juniper berries for this reason.)
But said celebrating friend convinced me to give them a try and I didn't move far from the tray of them for the rest of the night! These poppable treats are packed with golden raisins, pine nuts and spices - no bread filler - and work really well as party hor'devores.

I quadroupled the recipe and used a teaspoon to help with portion control and shaping. The original recipe called for frying the meatballs in olive oil, but baking them on a cookie sheet is a lot faster and saves on clean up time.

Lamb Meatballs
1/4 cup golden raisins
2 tbsp minched green onions
1/3 cup toasted pine nuts
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp salt (I started with 1/4tsp but added more)
1/8 tsp ground pepper
1 clove garlic minced
1/2 lb. ground lamb

1. Combine all ingredients.
2. Shape into meatballs.
3. Fry in olive oil or bake in 400F oven for 10-12 minutes until golden brown.

Tzatziki Sauce (optional dipping sauce)
2/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
salt to taste
[I also added in some minced cucumber and key lime juice]

1. Combine all ingredients. Stir well.