East European Meatballs

TarragonBoy's Note:

This is my recipe for meatballs that I've put together after experimenting with various ingredients. All those who had these found them yummy. I hope you will too. It works as an appetizer (on their own), or as a main course (served with mashed potatoes, pasta and a tomato based or creamy sauce).

• Total Time: 40 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 6

Yield: 36 meatballs

• 680.38 g ground pork (minced)
• 303.90 g ground beef (minced)
• 2 large potatoes
• 1 carrot
• 2 large eggs
• 6 large garlic cloves
• 2 medium onions
• 6 slice white bread
• 118.29 ml fresh dill leaves
• 236.59 ml fresh parsley leaves
• 177.44 ml breadcrumbs
• 14.79 ml salt
• 29.58 ml pepper

Directions:

1. Chop the onions finely. Put a little canola oil in a pan, turn the heat to medium. When the oil is hot, add the onions and a pinch of salt, turn down the heat to low-medium and saute, covered, for about 10 mins, until yellow and soft. Simmer from time to time.
2. Remove the onions from the pan, and put on a bowl to cool down.
3. Grate the carrot using the coarse side of the grater. Squeeze well between your palms afterwards, to get rid of all the water.
4. Grate the potatoes using the fine side of the grater. Squeeze well between your palms afterwards.
5. Dunk the slices of bread (crust removed) in a little milk for 3 seconds and then squeeze well between palms to get rid of all the liquid.
6. Mince the garlic cloves (you can remove the germs if you wish - in this way, the garlic smell won't stay with you 2 days afterwards).
7. Remove the leaves from the parsley and dill, and finely chop them.
8. Put the minced meat, potatoes, carrot, eggs, garlic, onion, bread slices, dill, parsley, bread crumbs, pepper in a large bowl. Mix everything together (with your hands or mixer). Add 1/2 Tbs salt, mix, and taste the composition. Add another 1/2 Tbs salt if you think it's needed. I normally put 1 Tbsp salt in total. Also, of course, you can add more pepper if you like it more spicy.
9. Press the mixture against the pan and 'pat' it slightly with you hands to look uniform. Then cover the bowl and let the mixture rest in the fridge for 1 hour. This will firm up the mixture.
10. Remove the mixture from the fridge 20 minutes before cooking.
11. Take 1 heaped Tblsp of mixture at a time, and with your hands wet, form the meatballs. Place the meatballs on a plate.
12. In a deep medium sized frying pan, put canola oil until it's about 1.5 inches in height. Let the oil heat up on a medium-high heat. It's important that the pan is not too wide, so that the oil inside is quite deep in order to cover the meatballs well from all sides when cooking.
13. When the oil is hot, turn down the heat to medium, and put the meatballs in the pan. Fry on one side for 4 mins, then turn on the other side, fry for 4 mins, then 1 min again on each side.
14. Remove the meatballs from the pan and place on a paper towel to absorb the oil.
15. That's it! I hope you'll like :).