Greek Meat Balls

Main ingredient
Beef
Country
Greece
Preparation time
70 minutes
Cooking time
40 minutes
Course
Main
Servings
4

Beef (600g minced with 20% fat)
Onion (100g finely chopped)
Breadcrumbs (70g)
Egg (Large lightly beaten)
Garlic (2 cloves finely chopped)
Parsley (6 tbp finely chopped)
Cumin (1 tsp ground)
Cinnamon (½ tsp ground)
Paprika (½ tsp ground)
Black pepper (1 tsp ground)
Salt (1½ tsp)

Place in bowl and mix well.

Roll into about 20 balls

Refrigerate for 1 hour.

Olive oil

Preheat oven to 210°C
Place balls into lightly oiled baking tray.
Drizzle oil over balls.
Place in oven and cook for 15 minutes turning once.

Olive Oil (2 tbp)
Onion (100g finely chopped)

Heat oil in pan.
Fry onion gently for about 10 minutes until soft but not coloured.

Garlic (2 cloves crushed)

Add & cook for a couple of minutes.

Tomatoes (400g chopped)
Tomato puree (2 tbp)
Red wine (150 ml)
Sugar (1 tsp soft dark)
Bay leaf (1 tsp ground)
Thyme (½ tsp dried)
Cumin (½ tsp ground)
Cinnamon (½ tsp ground)
Paprika (½ tsp sweet ground)
Black pepper (½ tsp soft dark)
Salt (½ tsp)

Add to pan & stir well.
Bring to boil, cover & simmer for 20 minutes

Add cooked meat balls to sauce.
Simmer for 15 minutes.

Parsley (1 tbp finely chopped)
Olive oil (1 tbp)

Sprinkle with the parsley. 
Drizzle over the olive oil & serve.

Notes

Serve with rice, mash or crunchy bread.
2 tbp Green Olives may be added to the sauce at the same time as the meat balls.

Once cooked it can be left overnight and then reheated which gives time for the flavours to develop.