Served 2.5

For the meatballs:

500g minced lamb

1-2 teaspoons of sumac or the grated zest of half a lemon

1 teaspoon ground cumin

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 a small packet of pistachios, crushed (I blitzed them in the Nutribullet)

For the yoghurt dip:

1/3 of a cucumber, grated

4 dessert spoons plain yoghurt

1/2 garlic clove, crushed

Dash each of red wine vinegar and olive oil – say 1/3 to half a dessert spoon

Salt and pepper

Combine all the meatball ingredients and form into small balls. I think ‘walnut sized’ is the standard measurement but mine tend to be a bit bigger than that. I got 21 meatballs from this mixture. Pop on a baking sheet at 180 degrees (or the middle of the Aga roasting oven) for about 20 minutes.

Combine all the other ingredients to make the dip while your baby explores the garden with Daddy and a spaniel that has Woody Allen’s manic neurosis but not his wit. Kiss the baby through the window a couple of times and the meatballs should be done.

We had ours with rice and salad – it would be great with flatbreads but for some reason flatbreads are on Bert’s (very short) black list. Not that Bert ate the salad of course, but it’s good to show him a leaf every now and then.