WHAT’S COOKING: Keftedes (Greek meatballs) with lemon potatoes and courgettes

Keftedes, the Greek meatballs flavoured with feta cheese, plenty of fresh herbs, red onion and garlic, are traditionally made with beef and pork. This is a variation made with minced chicken.

The observant reader will have noticed over time that I am a big fan of Greek food and flavours. From the lemon and garlic to the oregano and cinnamon, via the feta, phyllo and of course lots of olives, honey and yoghurt, I adore it all and the interplay between all of these things. And the herbs: parsley, mint, oregano, thyme and dill.

Not all of the above ingredients are in this simple but satisfying dish, but many of them are. We’re using oregano, feta and lemon to make chicken meatballs, a variation of keftedes (which are more often made with a mix of beef and pork mince), and we’re also making lemon potatoes to go alongside, as well as kolokithakia, which we know better as courgette or zucchini.

To marry them all together we’re adding tzatziki, and there’s plenty of dill in that.

½ cup panko breadcrumbs soaked in a little milk for a minute, before squeezing or straining off the milk

Earlier in the day, make some tzatziki: peel the cucumber in zebra stripes – i.e. peel it lengthwise, leaving gaps in between.

Grate the cucumber, salt it lightly, leave it to stand for 10 minutes, then squeeze out excess water through a kitchen cloth or cheesecloth.

Put the cucumber in a bowl and add the yoghurt, grated garlic, lemon juice, olive oil, dill, and salt and black pepper. Drizzle a little olive oil on top and sprinkle some fresh dill over. Refrigerate until needed. (Or dress it with olive oil and fresh dill just before serving.)

Combine the minced chicken, onion, garlic, panko crumbs (having strained off the milk they soaked in), mint, dill, dried oregano and lemon zest in a bowl and season with salt and black pepper. Stir in the diced feta.

Put the bowl in the fridge for half an hour to “set” the mixture and thereby make it easier to shape into balls.

Pour a dash of olive oil into a palm and rub your palms together. On a working surface, divide the mince in half, then again, and again and then once more, until you have 16 little mounds of chicken mince.

Use your oiled hands to roll them into 16 small balls. They can be round or oval – which is more traditional for keftedes in Greece. So, once they’re round, you can squash them a little bit to make them oval, then press down to make oval patties. Set them on a plate. Put them in the fridge for half an hour to firm up a little.

Heat a little olive oil in a pan and pan-fry them until golden, turning or rolling them on all sides while they sizzle.

Add the coarse salt, black pepper, dried oregano, grated lemon zest, salt, pepper and olive oil. Add the lemon wedges.