The best meatballs are of course the ones made by grandma, but you should also try these Italian ones.
Cook the meatballs in the tomato sauce to the end, at the same time the potatoes are also cooked.
It once happened that the chef Risto to Mikkola there was a rush before lunch at the Joensuu restaurant Local bistro.
– The intention was to offer small meatballs at lunch, but we realized that there was not enough time to roll them, Mikkola recalls one morning in his restaurant.
So instead of small meatballs, they made big ones – and saved time. Besides, the meatballs turned out really tasty and good.
In order to succeed in making meatballs (whether they are Finnish or Italian), remember a few tips.
1. The most important thing is to be patient not to knead the dough too much. Then the meatballs will be as juicy and good as possible. A meatball kneaded too much starts to resemble kebab meat.
2. Mikkola encourages to forget the spice that Finns eagerly use, i.e. onion soup from meatball dough.
– Instead, use puree made from roasted onions, salt, pepper and fresh herbs. You get a great taste in meatballs.
3. When you fry the meatballs, first brown them in a good oil-butter mixture in a frying pan. In this way, you get crispness and a beautiful color on the surface of the meatball. After that, cook the meatballs either in their own sauce or in the oven.
4. A good tip is that it is easier to shape buns and patties from the cold dough. You shouldn’t rush the frying, but shape all the buns and patties first, and only then fry.
5. Remember that you should not cook too many meatballs at a time, so that you can turn them in the pan during frying. Be gentle in your grips so that you don’t break the bun in the beginning.
6. A ripe bun feels firm when pressed, you can confirm the ripeness by making a small incision on the side of one bun.
Onion puree without effort
You can get onion puree easily when you roast the onions in the oven at 180 degrees for half an hour. Don’t do anything to the onions, just put them whole in the oven. When the onions are soft, cut off the stem and put the onions in a blender.
Italian meatballs
400 g of onion
800 g ground beef
1-2 teaspoons of salt
100 g grated parmesan
1 egg
1 dl fresh basil
0.5 tsp black pepper
1. Roast the onions whole in the oven until tender and puree the onions with a hand mixer or in a blender.
2. Combine all ingredients and mix. Form meatballs of about 50 g. Fry the meatballs a beautiful color in a frying pan.
3. Put the meatballs in the tomato sauce and cook in the oven at 150 degrees for 30 minutes.
Parmesan potato
800 g of washed baked potatoes in 1 cm slices
0.5 dl olive oil
salt
black pepper
50 g grated parmesan
1. Mix the potato slices, salt, pepper and olive oil.
2. Spread the potatoes evenly on a baking sheet and roast at 200 degrees for 20–30 min. Finally, add grated parmesan on top of the potatoes and roast in the oven for 3 minutes.
Tomato sauce
1 chopped onion
3 cloves of garlic, sliced
1 dl olive oil
0.5 dl balsamic vinegar
800 g of crushed tomatoes
1 teaspoon of salt
0.5 tsp black pepper
0.5 dl of fresh basil
0.5 dl fresh oregano
1 teaspoon of sugar
1. Fry the onions in olive oil. Add the rest of the ingredients and bring to a boil.
2. Mix with the meatballs and cook in the oven at 150 degrees for 30 min.