These oblong shaped and larger size meatballs, a little spicy (more aromatic than hot) are one of the dishes introduced by the Greeks of Asia Minor like my father’s parents. They are generally always served in a rich tomato sauce accompanied by rice or chips cooked in extra virgin olive oil and I love the aroma of the kitchen when they are finishing in the oven.
In this recipe I used venison mince which is lean and I added fat by including pork sausage meat and some chopped Italian guanciale. The result was delicious, both gamey, buttery and creamy at the same time. You may choose to use only beef mine or 50% beef and pork mince.
Ingredients (serves 4)
- 400g beef mince
- 200g pork sausage meat
- 100g guanciale
- 1 medium onion, grated
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 100g of stale bread, without the crust
- Red wine, approx. 200ml
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 egg
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1 tbsp finely chopped parsley
- Extra virgin olive oil for frying
For the tomato sauce
- 4-5 large ripe tomatoes, grated
- 1 cinnamon stick
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- 1 onion
- 1 clove
- 1 bay leaf
- 3 tbs extra virgin olive oil
To serve
- Early Harvest Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- Finely chopped parsley
Method
In a small bowl, soak the bread with some of the red wine until soft.
Blitz the guanciale in a small blender. Add to a bowl together with the beef mince and the pork sausage meat. Add the onion, garlic and egg. Squeeze the bread and add to the mix. Season with salt and pepper and use your hands to massage the mix very well so as to incorporate all the ingredients. Transfer to the fridge for an hour or so.
Take handfuls of the mix, roll in your hands to create elongated meatballs.
Heat the extra virgin olive oil in a pan and brown the soutzoukakia all round on medium heat so that they almost cook all the way through. When brown all over, add a splash of red wine and cover with the lead while you make the tomato sauce.
To make the tomato sauce, bring the oil in a saucepan to a high heat and add the grated tomato, the onion studded with the clove, the cinnamon stick, bay leaf and cumin, bring to the boil, reduce the heat and cook until thickened. Season.
In an ovenproof dish, add the browned soutzoukakia, cover with the tomato sauce and finish cooking in a preheated oven at 180C for 30 minutes. Serve drizzled with some early harvest extra virgin olive oil and topped with lots of chopped fresh parsley.