Greek Meatballs in Lemon Sauce (Κεφτέδες με αυγολέμονο)

I absolutely love Greek food, I love how fresh the ingredients are and how well they work together. I used to live in Greece not that long ago and loved the sun, sea and............fresh food, I even managed to pick up quite a bit of the language so I could communicate better whilst I was there. In September 2013 I travelled to Zakynthos and stumbled into a local Greek restaurant where I had local Greek food, which was the inspiration for "Κεφτέδες με αυγολέμονο" or "Greek Meatballs in Lemon sauce".

You can see my review on Trip Advisor here -  Kandouni, Zakynthos Town

Ingredients

2 Lemons

1 medium sized onion

5 cloves of garlic minced

Handful of oregano

Handful of mint

Harmful of parsley

3 eggs

400g of Beef Mince or 200g each of beef & lamb mince mixed together

Bunch of Dill

Chicken stock

Salt

Pepper

For the chips

3 white potatoes 

Olive oil

Dried Oregano

Salt

Method

Chop the onion finely

Mince the garlic then finely chop the parsley, oregano and mint and add to the mix.

Mix the mixture together

Take 2 slices of bread and add it to a bowl of water.

Take the slices of bread out the water one at a time  and squeeze with your hands to remove as much liquid as possible then add the bread to the mixture.

Mix the bread into the mixture

Add 1 egg to the mixture and mix together and shape into a ball and cover with clingfilm.

Add to the fridge for at least a couple of hours if not longer.

Once your mixture has had time to chill  remove from the fridge and shape into large meatballs

Once you have shaped all the mixture into meatballs place on a baking tray with greaseproof paper or tin foil

Place in the oven for 30 minutes on 140c or gas mark 2. What you are trying to do is not to cook the meatballs but to add a bit of heat that will remove some of the moisture  and firm up the meatballs so they don't fall apart later when you add them to the mix.

Once done remove from the oven.

Now we need to make the Lemon & Egg sauce. Firstly get a bowl and a whisk, together with 2 lemons and 2 eggs.

Crack the eggs into the the bowl

Now whisk them together.

Squeeze the juice from both lemons and add to the mix.

Whisk the egg and the lemon together.

Add the chicken stock to a pan and heat gently

Now this bit is very important. When the chicken stock is warm a spoonful to the lemon and egg mix and whisk, repeat this around 7 to 10 times adding a spoonful each time then whisking after every spoonful. The reason this part is important is because if you do not do it this way the egg will cook or curdle  which we don't want.

Now add the contents of the lemon and egg mix to the rest of the chicken stock that's been warming and whisk together

Now chop some fresh dill

Add the fresh dill to the sauce and mix together.

Heat and reduce. Tip: if you want it a little thicker add some thickening granules or sieve in some cornflour.

Add the meatballs into the sauce.

Add salt and pepper to taste and some more dill if required.

Simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.

In the meantime lets make some Greek style chips.

Peel the potatoes

Cut the chips into thin chips that are thinner than normal chips width ways.

Add the chips to a bowl of water.

Heat up a pan of olive oil. Be careful not to heat it too much, olive oil will burn quicker than normal vegetable oil.

Pat the chips dry ready to add to the pan of olive oil.

Now add to the pan of oil.

After 10 to 15 minutes or when the chips are done remove from the oil and place on a kitchen towel to remove any excess oil.

Season the chips with oregano and salt. 

Serve 3 to 4 meatballs with the Lemon & Egg sauce.

Enjoy!!!

Yum!!

Italian Meatballs in a Creamy Tomato Sauce

This is one of my favourite Italian dishes. It was originally made by my fiancée for me after remembering childhood recipes her father used to cook her. This is what she had to say about it...

"We had a tradition in our house where Mum cooked the Sunday roast and the evening meals in the week but Dad was in charge on a Saturday. Lunchtimes were mostly soup but the evening meals were where he got to experiment with 'exotic' dishes (this was the 1980s!). This was a dish which left a lasting memory so I wanted to recreate it for my loved one. Fortunately my Dad cooked like a TV chef with everything in little bowls and I used to wash up so I could remember the ingredients, between us we've worked out quantities so it tastes delicious and is now a recipe we want to share."

Italian Meatballs in a Creamy Tomato Sauce

Ingredients

6 good sausages (400g)
1 Small tub of double cream500ml passata1 Small glass of white wine1 Tablespoon olive oil4 cloves of garlic - pressed1.5 small onions - finely dicedFresh basilSalt and pepper to taste

Method

Skin sausages and chop into small meatball sized chunks (4/5 per sausage)

Finely chop the onions and mince the garlic ready for the pan.

Heat the olive oil in a pan add the onions and garlic and stir regularly until they soften but do not brown. 

Then add the passata and the double cream stir until mixed while warming to a simmer.

 Add the sausage chunks, salt and pepper and continue stirring (otherwise it forms a skin) for around 15 minutes so the sausages are cooked. 

Add the wine and continue simmering and stirring to reduce back to sauce consistency. Taste - add further salt & pepper if required and the fresh basil (leaves torn into roughly 1cm pieces, stalks finely chopped).

Serve with Pasta and some fresh Basil.

Enjoy!