Holy Meatballs! (in Paprika Tomato Sauce)

Ahhh, the joys of meatballs in tomato sauce. They serve them in just about a dozen different countries - as albondigas in Spain, polpetta al sugo in Italy, or just good old meatballs for the native English speakers out there. And yes, the meatball is a common phenomenon here in the Netherlands too. My grandma’s generation served them the size of a small fist (gehaktballen) with potatoes and gravy, or smaller (gehaktballetjes) in vegetable soups. And yet, they never really had me convinced. I wasn't a meatball kinda gal. Meatballs, to me, seemed boring.

Until one day, when a friend came over and made some meatballs with a packet of minced meat and a handfull of leftovers from the fridge and the pantry. The sauce was amazing. So were the balls - succulent, aromatic, mmmm. I became an instant convert.

Holy Meatballs! (in Paprika Tomato Sauce)

Of course, I had to try a repeat. With the pantry fully stocked with nuts for the breakfast bars I made earlier, I decided go a little nuts myself and toss some in.

It goes without saying that there isn't really a 'right way' to do meatballs. You can make them as complex as you like and spice them in a million different ways. I had a lot in the house and maybe I went a little overboard on the ingredients. They were damn good though :)

Ingredients (serves 4):

For the balls:
500g minced meat
2 shallots, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 egg, beaten
2 tbsp parsley, finely chopped
25g walnuts, chopped
1/3 cup bread crumbs (you can use the plain kind, I used the crumbs of rye bread - the supermarket was fresh out of packaged breadcrumbs, but the bakery section of our local supermarket, where fresh bread is cut, had lots to spare)
1/3 cup grated parmesan, plus some for garnish
grated rind of 1/2 lemon
1 tsp salt
freshly ground black pepper

Few stalks fresh parsley (optional: for garnish)

For the sauce:
500ml sieved tomato (passata di pomodoro) - so not what they sell in small tins as ultra condensed tomato puree!
2 red bell peppers (capsicum)
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, pressed
good dash of red wine
season with salt and freshly ground black pepper

Instructions:
1. Start by making the balls. Put the minced meat in a large bowl. Add shallots, garlic, eg, parsley, walnuts, breadcrumbs, parmesan and lemon rind, salt and pepper. Knead it to mix it up well, then roll large tablespoons of the mixture into balls, about 3cm or so (1 inch) in diameter.

2. Get started wtih the sauce. Wash the bell peppers, remove the seeds/stem, and chop into large chunks. Put them into a pan with a dash of olive oil and sautée over medium-high heat for about 5 minutes.

3. Lower the heat and add the onions. Sautee until glazed (but not brown), then add the garlic. Leave for one minute or so. Now add the tomato puree. Using a hand blender (or other blender), blend the mixture carefully, not leaving any chunks. Add the wine and season with salt and pepper.

4. In the meantime, go back to your meatballs. Heat some vegetable oil in a large skillet (vegetable oil can get hotter without burning than olive oil). When the pan is hot, briefly fry the meatballs on all sides until they reach a golden brown colour but the inside is still raw. Remove from pan. You may want to spread this out over several batches - if you overcrowd the pan the balls may fall apart while you're trying to turn them.

5. Add the meatballs to the tomato-pepper mixture and simmer for 20-30 minutes over low heat.

Garnish with some chopped parsley and parmesan to serve.

Voila, meatballs in the evening sun! :)



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