Country-Style Sausage Meatballs

This is an interesting and tasty variation of meatballs from a Greek cookbook, where half the mince meat is substituted with the contents of a spicy country-style pork sausage. The meatball tastes like sausage but is leaner and healthier. It tastes better if it is allowed to sit overnight before cooking so that the flavours can blend together.

• Ready In: 1 hr 20 mins
• Serves: 4

Ingredients

• 300  g beef mince
• 300  g sausages (I used Greek loukanika but a mild Italian sausage is close in flavour)
• 1  tablespoon tomato paste
• 3⁄4 cup  breadcrumbs (you may need a bit less depending on your meat)
• 1  egg
•  oregano
•  salt and pepper

Directions

1. Carefully cut the sausage casings and scrape out all the contents into a bowl.
2. Chop them so that they resemble mince and then add to the beef mince.
3. Add breadcrumbs, egg, tomato paste, salt, pepper and oregano to taste.
4. Combine very well with your hands making sure that you have incoorporated the sausage and the spices well.
5. Allow to sit for 30 minutes in the fridge (or overnight for best results).
6. Roll into long, oval-shaped meatballs and place in a greased baking tray.
7. Cook in a pre-heated oven at 180 degrees celcius for 40 minutes.
8. Serve with ketchup, mustard and a green salad. Yum!