European Style Meatballs Recipes

GERMAN MEATBALLS (FRIKADELLEN)

Steps:

• Add the ground meat, diced onion, cracked egg, breadcrumbs, mustard, paprika, salt, and pepper to a bowl.
• Mix everything together for a few minutes with your clean hands until the ingredients are thoroughly mixed and stay together when you form a rough ball in your hand. The consistency is important to stop the meatballs from falling apart later. If the mixture feels too wet/sticky, add a few more breadcrumbs.
• Form approximately 8 meatballs that are slightly smaller than the size of your palm. Slightly flatten off the top and the bottom of the meatball so that they are not a fully rounded ball. Make sure that the meatballs are roughly the same size so that they'll be done frying at the same time.
• Heat approximately 1-2 tablespoons of butter (depending on your pan size) in a large frying pan. Once the butter is melted and hot, add (some) of the meatballs and fry them on medium-low heat for approximately 7-10 minutes until the bottom is browned.
• Then flip the meatballs over and fry them from the other side. Remove them from the heat once the meatballs are fully cooked through.
• These meatballs can be served with many different side dishes. Classic choices are potato and pasta salad, mashed potatoes with gravy, fried potatoes, or a simple slice of bread and mustard.

EAST EUROPEAN MEATBALLS

Steps:

• 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.
• Remove the onions from the pan, and put on a bowl to cool down.
• Grate the carrot using the coarse side of the grater. Squeeze well between your palms afterwards, to get rid of all the water.
• Grate the potatoes using the fine side of the grater. Squeeze well between your palms afterwards.
• 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.
• 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).
• Remove the leaves from the parsley and dill, and finely chop them.
• 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.
• 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.
• Remove the mixture from the fridge 20 minutes before cooking.
• Take 1 heaped Tblsp of mixture at a time, and with your hands wet, form the meatballs. Place the meatballs on a plate.
• 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.
• 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.
• Remove the meatballs from the pan and place on a paper towel to absorb the oil.
• That's it! I hope you'll like :).

EAST-EUROPEAN MEATBALLS

Steps:

• (you will need more than those 75ml oil. Those 75ml are about the quantity that gets absorbed in the process and therefore will be part of the nutrition info).
• Soak the bread in water (or milk) and the crush it into small crumbs.
• Mix together in a big bowl, by hand: the meat, the onion, the potato, the garlic, the bread and the egg (raw).
• Add salt and pepper to taste then add 2 teaspoons of paprika.
• Mix until homogenous.
• Oil hands and make small balls out of the meat mix (about 2. 5-3cm (1") in diameter).
• In a big cast-iron pan, pour sunflower oil to cover the pan bottom about 1cm (1/2") and heat it on medium high heat (level 6).
• When hot, roll the meatballs one by one through the flour and place them in the pan.
• Do not overcrowd the pan, as you will need space to turn the meatballs around.
• Turn the heat lower (to level 4-5) and keep an eye on the meatballs at all times as they can burn quickly.
• When they get a bit golden, turn them around.
• You will have to turn them at least 2 times until they are done (it will take about 15-20 minutes for one round).
• When done, they will have a light brown colour and they will be done on the inside too (you have to try them).
• Delish!