Sunday, August 20, 2006

From popcorn to real food

In an email Granny asked me if I would share the recipe for Greek meatballs I mentioned in an email to her. To counteract my previous non-gourmet post on popcorn, here is said recipe, a Forbes Family Favorite clipped from the newspaper.

Greek meatballs with tomato sauce and green olives

3 slices white bread, crusts removed
¼ cup sweet wine, marsala or sherry
700g/1.5 lb ground lamb
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 egg, lightly beaten
salt and pepper
1/2 cup plain flour
olive oil

tomato sauce

400g/¾ lb can chopped tomatoes
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp sugar
1/2 cup hot water
2 tbsp chopped fresh oregano (or some rosemary leaves)
¾ cup green pitted olives, rinsed and drained
salt and pepper

Soak the bread in wine for 10 minutes to soften. Preheat oven to 180 ºC/350ºF. Break up bread and combine in a bowl with ground lamb, garlic, cinnamon and egg, mixing (with hands!) until well combined. Season with salt and pepper.

With damp hands, mould walnut-sized amounts into balls and set aside. Roll each ball in flour to coat.

Heat oil in a large frying pan and fry meatballs until golden brown (this may need to be done in 2-3 batches). Place meatballs in an oven dish and set aside.

To make sauce, combine ingredients in a bowl and season with salt and pepper. Pour sauce over meatballs. Bake for 35-40 minutes, stirring once to prevent sticking. Serves 6.

12 comments:

Alice said...

Thanks, Val. They sound delicious and I'm going to give them a try, minus the olives.

It's just not my night - first it's my dislike of popcorn and now it's my total hatred of olives. I don't even like olive oil, although I do use if from time to time, and then promptly hate whatever I've cooked.

Yes, I know that olives and their oil are supposed to be the best foods you can eat, and I like almost every other food (just look at me ... lol), but these, I cannot and will not eat.

abagail1945 said...

Alice, I've never liked ANY oil, olive or otherwise, I've always thought it was because we had an aunty who believed a big dose of castor oil was just the thing for growing kids on a regular basis. It only ever made me throw-up, just like clockwork, but it didn't stop them from giving it to us.

Val, I like the lamb meatballs recipe, lamb and tomato... yummy... or it would be if I hadn't just finished a big bowl of home-made ham and pea soup. Probably the last one for this winter. Hasn't the weather been magnificent...

DellaB said...

oops, that last comment (abagail1945) was from me... now how did it get under that login? my alter-ego.. sorry..
Della

Susie said...

Although these sound interesting, and I love olives and olive oil, it would be the lamb that would give me pause.
(have you ever tried them with some other type of ground meat?)
I can see your recipe slowly being rewritten here :-)

Kali said...

Yum, i've just popped in for a visit, and now I'm already hungry, and it's not even 10.30am!!

Sandy Hatcher-Wallace said...

I agree with Sue...it must be an American thing...But I think that ground beef would be a great substitute for the lamb. Yummmm

Val said...

Alice, I think peanut oil or other cooking oil would work just as well.

Ah, I wondered who Abigail was (= Della)!

AIP and Sue: Australians are pretty big on eating lamb, as are the Greeks. But I don't see why beef couldn't work too, although you'd want a bit of fat in it so they come out tender as the lamb ones do.

Kali, it's 11.30 a.m. and I too am hungry!

I forgot to write that I always serve it with orzo (or risoni), which is rice-shaped pasta.

Merle said...

Hi Val ~~ I like the sound of this recipe, so will get some minced lamb tomorrow when I shop, but I will omit the olives too. Wouldn't it be wonderful to beat Collingwood at the weekend? Hope springs eternal !!
Take care, Merle.

lindsaylobe said...

Sounds delicious Val. I'll be ensuring Anne makes this one (ha ha ha. When I retire I hope to do a bit more cooking as Anne hopes I will!! I'm currently way behind your good scout husband.

Jeanette said...

Hi Val
Im with Alice and Merle I will omit the olives sounds a tasty recipe ....



GO TIGERS!!!!

Kerri said...

Sounds delicious Val...and I'll keep the olives...love 'em! Ground lamb is hard to come by over here. Maybe easier in some parts, but rarely see it in our supermarket. Or any kind of lamb, for that matter. Once in a while they have some nice NZ lamb. Very expensive though.
Makes me wish my kids were home to cook for. Hubby won't eat anything with tomatoes in it. But maybe I'll make it sometime when the kids are coming...

DellaB said...

Hi Val, just popped back to let you know I had a comment-notification email bounce back again. Same problem probably, not just your blog, one or two others as well. But the comment is here, so I guess it's just a hiccup.