Soutzoukakia - Greek Meatball Bake #MeatMatters

If you regularly visit my blog you’ll know that I love Greek food so when fellow-blogger and long-time acquaintance and friend, Ruth from Rock N Roller Baby posted on Twitter about the BritMums and Simply Beef and Lamb #MeatMatters cookery challenge incorporating beef or lamb as an ingredient in a 30-minute meal, I knew instantly what I should share.

Soutzoukakia can be found all over Greece; and apparently the lightly spiced meatball bake was brought into Greece with the arrival of refugees from Asia Minor – or Smyrna, what is now known as Izmir. They are tender meatballs in a rich and intensely flavoured tomato sauce and they are delicious.

You can use pork, beef or lamb mince but I chose to use beef as it results in soft and tender, melt-in-the-mouth and really delicious meatballs. What’s more, beef is a rich source of protein and iron, so not only does it taste great, but it’s also good for you.

The soaking of a couple of slices of bread in red wine, seems a strange action, but please persevere, it really does make juicy and tender meatballs.

It’s not necessarily traditional to either bake or add the feta cheese to this dish, but it’s my twist and I think it is a great showcase of how versatile beef can be as an ingredient. Beef mince in particular is a great and adaptable ingredient – some other Greek dishes I make using beef mince include Moussaka, Pastitsio – The Greek Lasagne.

We had this with rice but if you had some fresh crusty bread, flatbreads or pitta these would be well appreciated to mop up the leftover juices which are so tasty. 

This is a great family meal to make with children too - it doesn't matter if the meatballs are oddly shaped, the children will love getting involved and be proud to serve up something they've made together too.

I made everything in the same skillet – first searing the meatballs on all sides and then removing them from the pan, as I think it adds a lovely flavour to the sauce and saves on washing up, but if you wanted to speed things up, prepare your sauce in a separate pan.

The below serves a family of with leftovers for lunch the next day and is ready in thirty minutes – if you don’t dawdle. 

Soutzoukakia - Greek Meatball Bake for BritMums #MeatMatters

Soutzoukakia - Greek Meatball Bake #MeatMatters

Here’s how:
The meatballs:

• 700g beef mince
• 2 large garlic cloves
• 2 slices bread (I use wholegrain) soaked in a couple of tablespoons of red wine
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• ½ tsp salt
• Lots of fresh black pepper
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 1 egg, already beaten
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• Salt and black pepper

For the sauce:

• 1 carton passata
• 1 white onion
• 1 garlic clove
• ½ glass red wine
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 tsp honey
• Pinch salt
• Generous seasoning of black pepper
• 100g feta cheese

Begin by removing the crusts from the bread and popping into a shallow bowl with the couple of tablespoons of red wine. Ensure they both become immersed. At this point turn the oven onto the highest setting – about 250.

Now place the olive oil into a skillet or pan on a gentle heat and begin making the meatballs

Mince the garlic and add to a large bowl. Add the mince, the cinnamon, cumin, salt, pepper, oregano and egg. Now break up the winey bread and add to the mixture and bring it all together. Do not be tempted to knead it for too long as it will become overworked and you’ll end up with tough meatballs.

Once the mixture is simply combined, begin by rolling out 12-15 long meatballs – in a kofte shape and setting aside. 

The prepared meatballs ready for searing #MeatMatters

Put the flour into a small bowl or plate and season with salt and pepper. Roll each meatball into the flour and add to the skillet to brown all over. 

Frying the soutzoukakia meatballs #MeatMatters

Turn them after 30 seconds or so and ensure they are sealed on each side of the meatball, but cooked through. Another tip is to not overcook at this stage – they will finish cooking in the sauce, and if you overcook now, again, you’ll end up with tough and chewy meatballs instead of melt-in-the-mouth.

Whilst the meatballs are cooking, finely dice the white onion and mince the garlic for the sauce and get the other ingredients ready – measure out the wine, grab the cinnamon stick and get the honey out ready.

Once the meatballs are browned, remove them and place onto a plate.

Now throw the onions and garlic straight into the skillet – you shouldn’t need any extra olive oil at this stage – but gauge it by what is left in the pan and obviously if you are using a different pan add 1-2 tbsp.

Once the onions are soft turn the heat right up and pour over the wine. Cook for a minute or so and then add the passata, cinnamon stick, tomato puree and honey and season generously.

Allow the sauce to cook at a high temperature for five minutes. Then return the meatballs to the pan and gently turn them over a bit so they are fully immersed in the sauce. Cook for a further few minutes.

Now take the feta cheese and simply break off chunks or crumble over the top – you want a mixture of some bigger bits and some tiny crumbles.

Now place into the now piping-hot oven for a final blast. This will only take a few minutes for the feta to melt down.

Remove from the oven and carefully place onto a safe surface as the skillet will be very hot, and serve over rice, mashed potato or even with pasta. Enjoy! 

Family meal time Soutzoukakia #MeatMatters

This post is an entry for the #MeatMatters Challenge, sponsored by Simply Beef and Lamb. Learn more about the benefits of cooking and eating beef and lamb along with recipe ideas and inspiration here! https://www.simplybeefandlamb.co.uk/ 

Turkey Meatball Bake

This is a lovely family recipe for all the family getting stuck into one central dish. It's also a recipe that lends itself well to 'cooking with children' which is an absolute passion here, and my Bridget who's 3 and a half, loves nothing better than putting her apron on and helping in the kitchen.

I served here with a Mediterranean loaf (Tesco bakery, thank you very much), but any fresh bread would work, as would fresh pasta or even rice or couscous. There's just something more fun about dipping in the bread and mopping up all of the sauce.

I use turkey as it's incredibly lean, but you could any minced meat here, and the herbs I've included were as I had them in stock, again you can experiment or use dried if you prefer. It really is worth making your own meatballs, you don't need to pad them out with breadcrumbs or egg or anything, they're just pure meat and seasonings - no nasties.

The below serves us four (two adults, and two under 3's).

Turkey Meatball Bake

Here's how:

• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1 red onion
• 2 cloves garlic
• 3 celery sticks
• 1 carrot
• 1 jar passata
• 1 tin cannellini beans
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1/2 glass red wine
• 3 bayleafs
• Handful basil leafs

For the meatballs:

• 450g turkey mince
• 3 spring onions
• Drizzle of garlic oil
• Handful each of: parsley, tarragon, chives

For the bake:

• 1 ball of half fat mozzarella

Firstly make the tomato sauce. Start by pouring in the olive oil to a saucepan and placing on a low heat.

Peel and dice the onion and crush the garlic and add to the pan. Finely slice the celery sticks and add to the pan.

Once they're all softened, add the passata, red wine, bayleafs and oregano as well as seasoning generously with sea salt and black pepper.

Grate the carrot and add to the sauce, and finally add the cannellini beans then give a good stir through and allow to cook for 20-30 minutes. Remove from the heat and throw a few basil leaves in, give a good stir then set aside.

The tomato sauce with beans

In the meantime, make the meatballs. Place the mince into a bowl.

Finely slice the spring onions, and chop the herbs and add to the bowl with the garlic oil and give a good mix. There's only hands to be used here, a spoon won't cut it. Mix really well, trying to get the herbs distributed well throughout the meat, but be careful not to overwork the meat.

Now pull off a small piece, about 1 tbsp of the meat, and roll around in your hands to make a meatball then set aside. Repeat until all of the meat has been transformed into rounds.

Turkey Meatballs

Now remove the bayleafs from the tomato sauce and pour into an oven-proof dish. Place each meatball into the sauce, with a little space in between.

Finally tear the mozzarella up into slithers and place all around the top of the dish, so to evenly distribute the cheese.

Give one final seasoning over the top of the dish and it's ready to go into the oven.

Cook in a pre-heated oven for 30 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked through, and the cheese is melted and gooey all over the top. Serve with your choice of accompaniments. Enjoy!

Here are some other makeover recipes I make using turkey mince:
Turkey and Hidden Vegetable Bolognese
Turkey and Vegetable Parsnip Topped Pie
Turkey and Charred Vegetable Ragu Pasta Bake

Lady and the Tramp style Meatballs with Spaghetti

I often make my own meatballs, it's a fun cooking activity with my daughter, but for a quick mid-week meal, I turn to shop bought. I have tried the various supermarket versions and the Tesco Finest range, are a favourite in our house – the beef ones.

This dinner can be on the table from start to finish in 20-25 minutes so is perfect during the working week when time is precious and despite a quick-made sauce the base, of onions, garlic and chilli pack it full of flavour - you could of course add some fresh herbs to further enhance too, such as torn basil leaves or thyme which would both work well here.

The chilli adds a lovely heat - but if your taste is for less heat, just add half or a quarter of the chilli.

Lady and the tramp style meatballs with spaghetti

This serves 3:

Here's how:

• Pack of 12 meatballs
• 1 white onion
• 1 red chilli
• 1 clove garlic
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/2 carton cherry tomatoes
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 1 green pepper
• 50g spaghetti
• Optional: cheese to grate on top (we use Parmigiana)

Firstly fill and boil the kettle for your pasta water - this speeds up the process and if it's good enough for Jamie, it's good enough for me.

Now add the olive oil to a large non-stick pan and place on a medium heat.

Finely dice the onion, mince the garlic and slice the red chilli and add to the pan to really flavour the oil, then once slightly softened add the meatballs.

In the meantime, dice the pepper and halve the tomatoes and once the meatballs have started to brown, add to the pan.

At the same time place your pasta on to cook, with a pinch of salt.

Add the tomato puree, a pinch of salt and black pepper to the pan of meatballs and stir to combine the sauce and reduce down the liquid from the tomatoes.

Meatballs in the sauce

Once the pasta is cooked, take a spoonful of the cooking water and add to the meatball mix then stir through to loosen up the sauce and help coat the pasta.

Now drain the spaghetti and add the pan and stir through well before serving. Enjoy!

Courgetti with Meatballs

During the fat-fighting, healthy eating regime one thing I have really missed is pasta.

Pasta is usually a mainstay in our weeknight meals when I'm at work as it makes for such quick and easy meals so I've been experimenting with courgetti or courgette pasta as an alternative and this one is delicious with hearty meatballs and a quick homemade sauce.

I used Tesco Finest Beef Meatballs here as this was mid-week and they are absolutely fine but obviously if making the meatballs from scratch, the calorie count will go up or down accordingly. I also added a luxurious 10g Grana Padano grated over the top of the finished meal too, which you could leave out if you don't have the spare calories left / this would shed X calories.

The below serves two with each portion coming in at around 464 calories and this can all be cooked in the one pan too which saves on the washing up. 

Courgetti with Meatballs

Here's how:

• 2 100g courgettes
• 1 white onion
• 1 green pepper
• 200g fresh tomatoes
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 red chilli
• 10g coconut oil
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tbsp tomato puree
• 12 meatballs (I used Tesco Finest Beef Meatballs) 
• 20g Grana Padano 

Firstly use a spiraliser to make the courgetti - I have a Linea one from House of Fraser and use the middle setting for this which makes more of a tagliatelle shaped courgetti. If you don't have a spiraliser, no problem, use a vegetable peeler and make thin ribbons of pasta instead. Now set aside.

Add the coconut oil to the pan and place on a gentle heat.

Now peel and crush the garlic and dice the white onion and add to the pan. Slice the chilli and also add to the pan.

While these are softening, chop the green peppers and tomatoes which will make the basis of your sauce and set aside for the minute.

Now add the meatballs to be pan and allow to brown on each side, turning them with a wooden spoon or spatula. Once they are lightly browned, add the tomatoes and peppers, tomato puree, paprika and oregano and give a good stir.

Cook gently for twenty minutes which will allow for lovely, tender meatballs and add the courgetti for 1-2 minutes at the end. 

Courgetti with meatballs

Dish up on two plates or bowls and add the cheese on top if you're having. Enjoy!

Forty Dean Street

I recently visited Forty Dean Street for the first time, mid-week with some fellow PR friends, Hannah and Mindy. We had designs on either Polpo or Burger Lobster but grumbling tummies and long queues put paid to that, so we decided to give Forty Dean Street a try. We spotted a board outside promoting their offer of two courses for £10.90 and decided to give that a try.

With three choices for each course, this meant we were able to try everything which suited us just fine.

I chose the melanzine parmigiana for my first course, which was superb. Slices of aubergine baked in a rich tomato sauce, with layers of oozing cheese (I would hazard a guess at a mild Cheddar) and sprinklings of strong, salty parmesan. With expert seasoning, this really did get my hopes up for the main event. 

Hannah’s first dish was also a triumph, squid and courgette fritto, deep fried, cooked perfectly and well- seasoned.  Mindy’s on the other hand wasn’t quite as nice. A large vegetable arancini – it was certainly edible, but a little on the dry side and quite salty too.

For the main course I chose spaghetti with pork meatballs. The sauce was a lovely spicy tomato event, but the meatballs weren’t the best to be honest. I bit into quite a bit of gristle which was unpleasant and they were dry and over-salted, so not great.

Mindy had selected a vegetable pasta, with a tomato based sauce and chopped courgettes throughout, quite a basic dish really, but very appetising all the same.

Hannah chose the chicken supreme which came in yet another tomato sauce (spot the theme) and was served over some creamy mashed potato. The potato was perfectly seasoned, and the sauce was good, but the chicken was a little bit overcooked and had lost some of its moisture which was a shame as it was an otherwise delicious plate of food.

I would certainly return to Forty Dean Street and try out dishes outside of the set menu as we saw some very tempting dishes being carried to other tables and I was impressed by the service – particularly when it came to paying the bill. It turned out that the board outside was promoting the lunchtime offering and the evening offer was slightly pricier at £16.50 for two courses, still good value in Soho, but when we queried this, the manager was happy to honour the £10.90 price and apologised for the confusion, which was good of them.

If Italian is your bag, then definitely give Forty Dean Street a try but I would advise against the meatballs.