Meatballs in tomato sauce – My Whisk and I

Meatballs stuffed with feta / Köfte

July 8, 2023May 17, 2023by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

500g lamb mince
4 slices white bread, crusts removed
60ml milk
1 small onion, finely chopped
10ml chopped parsley
10ml chopped mint
2 cloves of garlic, minced
5ml salt
5ml ground cumin
5ml ground coriander
100g feta cheese, cubed (1,5cm x 1,5cm)

Sauce:
1 x 400g tin chopped tomato
5ml salt
10ml sugar
60ml cream

For the meatballs:
Preheat your oven to 180℃.
Place the minced meat in a large mixing bowl and break it up with your hands.
Break up the bread, add it to the bowl and pour over the milk. Mix well.
Now add the onion, parsley, mint, garlic, cumin, coriander, salt and a few good grindings of black pepper. Mix again.
Scoop 30ml of the meat into your hands, form a ball and press it flat in your palm.
Place a feta cube on the mince and bring the sides up and around it. Roll the mince ball between your hands to seal.
Place the balls on an oven tray and keep going until you have no meat left.
Drizzle a few drops of olive oil over the meatballs and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.

For the sauce:
Add the tomato, salt and sugar to a liquidiser and blitz until smooth.
Pour the sauce into a saucepan set over medium-high heat and simmer for 15 minutes.
Add the cream, stir through and add the meatballs.
Simmer for a further 20 minutes.
Serve the meatballs with rice or bulgar wheat.

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Greek Meatballs in Tomato Sauce/Soutzoukakia

July 14, 2022June 17, 2022by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

500g minced pork
500g minced beef
100g panko breadcrumbs
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1 onion, chopped
1 bunch of parsley, chopped
15ml ground cinnamon
5ml ground cumin
10ml salt
1 egg, beaten
150ml olive oil

Tomato Sauce:
45ml olive oil
1 onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 x 400g tin tomato purée
500ml water
4 sprigs of thyme, leaves stripped
1 bay leaf
20ml sugar
1,2ml ground cumin
1,2ml smoked paprika
5ml salt

Add all the ingredients for the meatballs to a mixing bowl and mix it through with your hands.
Now shape the mixture into 30-40 fat sausages and place on a baking sheet. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour.

For the Tomato Sauce:
Add the olive oil to a saucepan set over medium-high heat.
Add the onion and garlic and fry until soft and translucent.
Add the tomato purée and stir-fry for 1 minute.
Add the water, thyme leaves, bay leaf, sugar, cumin and paprika and simmer until the sauce has thickened.
Remove the bay leaf and blitz the sauce with a hand blender until smooth. Set aside.

Preheat your oven to 220℃ and cover the bottom of an oven tray with a thin layer of oil.
Transfer the meatballs to this tray and bake in the preheated oven for 12 minutes.
Now put the tomato sauce back on the heat and add the meatballs to it. Simmer for 5 minutes.
Serve with basmati rice as a main or in the sauce as a Meze.

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Meatballs cooked in Tomato Sauce

June 4, 2021June 4, 2021by Karen ClaassenLeave a Comment

There is no pan frying involved in making these meatballs as they are cooked directly in the tomato sauce and therefore are wonderfully juicy and aromatic. The recipe yields about 16 large meatballs but may be easily halved.

2 onions, chopped
4 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tins of chopped tomato
15ml sugar
10ml salt
10ml dried oregano
250ml beef stock

2 slices bread
62ml milk
1kg beef mince
10ml salt
250ml mozzarella cheese, grated
125ml parmesan cheese, grated

Preheat your oven to 190℃.

Add the onion, garlic and a splash of oil to an ovenproof saucepan and place on medium heat. Cook for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the chopped tomato, sugar, salt, oregano and stock and allow the mixture to simmer slowly while you get on with the meatballs.

Slice the crusts from the bread and place it in a bowl.
Pour the milk onto the bread, turning the bread in the milk so that it becomes soggy and start falling apart.
Add the beef and salt to the bread mixture and mix with your hands. Push your hand down into the minced meat and squeeze it through your fingers – repeat until the ingredients are evenly distributed.

Scoop a tablespoon-full of the meat mixture into your hands and roll into a ball. Place the meatball directly into the slowly simmering tomato sauce.
Keep going until you have no meat mixture left.
Sprinkle the grated cheeses onto the meatballs and bake in your preheated oven for 30 minutes.
Serve with a crusty bread or fluffy mashed potato.