Ouzo Meatballs

awalde's Note:

I love meatballs and I love all kinds of them. This version with Greek spices can be used as appetizer, as "Hamburger" or cooked again in tomato sauce. Mint, Dill and Ouzo give them the special touch! If you dont' have ouzo feel free to usa any anised spirits (for example the french "pastis").

• Total Time: 30 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 15 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion (medium, finely chopped)
• 500 g ground meat (better beef of beef-lamb mix)
• 3 tablespoons bread (crumbs)
• 1 egg
• 1 tablespoon flour
• 1 tablespoon dill (fresh or frozen, chopped)
• 1 tablespoon mint (fresh or frozen, chopped)
• 1 tablespoon parsley (fresh,or frozen, chopped)
• 2 tablespoons ouzo (or any anised spirit)
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup wine, white or 1/3 cup milk

Directions:

1. Fry onions in olive oil until golden.
2. Mix fried onion and all other ingredients together. For this step I use a food processor provided of a spiral dough hook.
3. Grease a baking mold with olive oil.
4. Grease your hands and shape small balls of about 2’’.
5. Bake under the grill for about 15 Minutes or until lightly browned und through.
6. Serve warm or cold.
7. Note: After cooking or just before finishing you can add to the mold the content of 1 tin canned tomatoes, fried onion, parsley, salt and pepper. Bake until boiling and serve.

Reviews

[Sara 76]

We LOVED this! The flavours were amazing! I used all beef, but want to try it again using half beef and half lamb next time. I had to use dried dill and mint, and i also added a little dried rosemary. i used white wine, which I soaked the breadcrumbs in for a few minutes at the start. I "slipped" a little with the ouzo and ended up using maybe a tablespoon or so extra. We really loved the flavour the ouzo gave! I made 15 meatballs, and baked them in the oven at 200C for about 20 minutes. We couldn't decide how to serve them, so we had them 2 ways. The first, we served just as they were, with a trio of tzatziki, hummis, and taramasalata. This was everyone's favourite. The second way we had them was to make the tomato sauce mentioned at the end of the recipe. This was really tasty too, and i thought the flavour of the ouzo actually came out stronger this way. We will definately be making these again, thankyou for sharing! [Made for PRMR]

[loof]

What a wonderful dish! The aroma of the wine/ouzo and the fresh herbs was delightful while preparing and cooking, and the flavor was outstanding. I didn't use the onions (don't care for them), otherwise made as directed. Served as is, no sauce needed. Loved this recipe - thanks for sharing it!

[weekend cooker]

As suggfested, I made this as an appetizer with some hamburgers. Everyone really enjoyed the mint in this, as well as the other ingredients gave this some pow..Made no adjustments to this recipe. Made for PRMR tag.