Greek meat balls and other "food balls" - unique tastes
"Food-ball" composed of various ingredients such as vegetables, meat, cheese and plenty of herbs is one of the most common and really popular snacks served in Greece. They can accompany an ouzo drink or a glass of wine and sometimes they are used as an appetizer before a meal. Here is a list with some "food-ball" recipes.
Courgette balls with feta cheese (16-18 balls)
Ingredients:
- 1 k courgettes
- 1 big, chopped onion
- 2 slightly whipped eggs
- ¼ k grated feta cheese
- anise leaves(trimmed)
- parsley leaves (trimmed)
- salt, pepper
- 100 gr flour + some extra flour to dip the balls in it before frying
- olive oil
Preparation:
Grate the courgettes and squeeze them in order to get rid of their liquids. Put them in a drainer for 10 minutes. Mix the courgettes with the onion, the cheese, the 100 gr of flavor, the anise, the parsley and add the salt and pepper. If it is not thick enough, you can add some flavor. Create small balls of it and dip them in the extra flour. Fry the courgette-balls in hot olive oil for 2-3 minutes and put them in a plate covered with absorptive paper in order to get rid of the oil.
Aubergine balls (16-18 balls)
Ingredients:
- 3 big aubergines
- 2 tomatoes (remove their skin and seeds)
- 1 chopped green pepper (the long ones)
- 2 squeezed garlic bulbs
- 2 sp of trimmed basil or mint
- 2 sp trimmed parsley
- 2 sp white vinegar
- 1 egg
- 200 gr grated feta cheese
- 100-150 gr flavor
- ½ sp baking powder
- salt, pepper
- olive oil
Preparation:
Peel the aubergines and cut them in two pieces. Put them in salted water for 30 minutes. This will make them less bitter and it will prevent them from absorbing a lot of oil during frying. When taking them out of the water, you have to squeeze them in order to get rid of the liquids. Then chop them in very small pieces and squeeze them until they get dried. Put them in a bowl and add the tomatoes, the pepper, the herbs, the garlic, the egg, the vinegar, the baking powder, the salt and pepper and mix them smoothly. Add the cheese and then the flour. Create small balls of it and dip them in the extra flour. Fry the aubergine-balls in the hot olive oil for 2-3 minutes and put them in a plate covered with absorptive paper in order to get rid of the oil.
Serve them hot accompanied by smashed potatoes with olive oil and anise.
Mussels balls (for 4 persons)
Ingredients:
- 1 k mussels
- 2 sliced garlic bulbs
- 150 ml white wine
- 3 sp flour (you may need some more, dependent on the mixture)
- 1 sp trimmed parsley leaves
- 1 sp trimmed anise leaves
Preparation:
Brush the mussels with a small wire brush in order to have them perfectly cleaned and then wash them. Remove these hair like stripes by pulling them 1-2 times. Put the wine, the garlic and the mussels in a saucepan, cover it and boil them until the mussels open. Through away those that remain closed. Strain them (you may keep this broth for a fish soup or for rice boiling). Remove carefully the skin of the mussels and chop them in big pieces. Put them in a bowl adding the herbs, the salt-pepper, the flour and mix until a thick mixture has been created. Put small masses of the mixture in the hot frying oil using a spoon and fry them until their color turns gold. Serve with green salad.
Meat balls stuffed with sweet tomato sauce (16-18 balls)
Ingredients:
- ½ k mince beef
- 4 sp trimmed parsley
- 1 sp trimmed mint
- 40 ml liquid soda
- 30 ml olive oil
- 1 chooped onion
- 1 egg
- salt and pepper
- flour for dipping
Tomato sauce:
- 1 sp olive oil
- 2 middle sized tomatoes
- 2 sp sugar
- salt and pepper
- 1 sp sugar
Preparation:
Prepare the sauce a couple of hours before starting with the meat balls, because it has to be cold: Put a non-stick frying pan on the stove until it gets hot and then add the oil, the tomatos and the sugar and sauté them in high temperature for 2-3 minutes. Then decrease the temperature of the stove and add salt, pepper and oregon. Leave it to boil slowly and blend it slightly every now and then until it gets thicker (like marmalade). When it is cold, pour a very small quantity (1 tea spoon) of the sauce in an ice cubes case (not the bag but the plastic case) and freeze them.
Meat balls: Blend the mince beef with the onions, the egg, the salt and the pepper adding slowly the soda and the olive oil. Keep blending for another 6-7 minutes and put it in the fridge for 30 minutes. In the meanwhile, take the sauce cubes out of the freezer and put them on a plate. Then create small balls of the meat mixture and place a sauce cube in the middle of each one, which must be totally covered by the meat. Put them cautiously in a hot oil frying pan (they must be semi-covered by the oil) for 2-3 minutes in high temperature and for another 3-4 minutes in lower.
Serve them hot with fried potatoes.
Tomato balls with fresh and sun dried tomatoes (22-25 balls)
Ingredients:
- 1 k ripe tomatoes
- 2 chopped onions
- 1 cup of mint leaves (trimmed)
- 1 cup of sun dried tomatoes (in oil), chopped and well drained
- 1 sp squashed tomatoes
- 3 slices of bread (2 cm thick each) - remove the bread crust
- 400 gr flour
- 2 sp balsamic vinegar
- 200 ml fresh milk
- salt, pepper
- olive oil
Preparation:
Soak the bread slices in the milk and then squash them in order to remove the milk. Cut the tomatoes in two pieces, remove the seeds and grate them. Blend them with the sun dried and the squashed tomatoes adding the bread, the onions, the mint, the vinegar, the salt and the pepper. Add the flour slowly (you might not need the entire flavor quantity) and blend them until they get homogenous. Put masses of this mixture in a hot oil frying pan, using a spoon to carry the mass and a second one to push it in the pan. Fry each side of them for 2,5 minutes and then put them in a plate with some absorptive paper. Serve the tomato balls hot accompanied by a blite salad with oil-vinegar dressing.
Chicken balls with courgettes and peppers (20-25 balls)
Ingredients:
- 750 gr chicken mince (from breast, without any skin remaining, ask the boucher to have it passed through the big hole sieve otherwise it will look like a mire). It must be cold in order not to stick in your hands while shaping the balls.
- 1 red pepper (the long ones) chopped in small pieces
- 1 middle sized grated courgette
- 1 grated onion
- 2-3 squashed garlic bulbs
- 2 sp parsley leaves (trimmed)
- ½ tea sp carry (powder)
- ½ tea sp cumin
- 1 egg
- 2 sp olive oil
- salt, pepper
- corn flour for dipping
- olive oil
Preparation:
Blend the mince chicken with the pepper, courgette, onion, garlic, parsley, cerry, cumin, egg, oil, salt and pepper. Keep blending for 7-8 minutes until you have created a homogenous mixture. Shape the balls while wetting your hands with water every now and then in order to prevent the balls from sticking on them. Dip them in the corn flour and then fry them in middle temperature oil for 3-4 minutes for each side of the balls. You can taste one of them in order to see if it is well fried before frying the rest. Leave them to dry on absorptive paper and server them hot with boiled potatoes and courgettes salad.
Delicious dips for accompanying the "food-balls"
Dip with katiki and anthotiro cheeses
Ingredients:
- 50 gr anthotiro cheese squashed by using a fork
- 120 gr katiki cheese
- 90 ml milk
- ½ tea sp fennel seed (in powder)
- 1 tea sp lemon juice
- ½ tea sp sweet pepper
Preparation:
Put the cheeses in the blender and add the milk. Blend until they have turned to a smooth cream. Add the fennel seeds powder and the lemon juice and blend the dip again. Bepowder it with the red pepper and the dip is ready to serve. It is ideal for courgette balls.
Wine and mastic sauce
Ingredients:
- 350ml red wine
- 450 ml sweet red wine (the greek Mavrodafni)
- 5-6 grains of black pepper
- 2 drops mastic oil
- 1 sp trimmed parsley leaves
Preparation:
Boil the wines in middle temperature while removing the foam every now and then. Add the pepper grains 10 minutes after the wine has started getting hot. Boil until the quantity of the liquid is almost 2/3 of a cup and then leave it to get cold. Strained it and add the mastic oil and the parsley.
Taste it with chicken-balls!
Creamy sauce with honey and lemon
Ingredients:
- 3 sp lemon juice
- 1 sp thyme honey
- 250 gr feta cheese
- 7 sp milk
- ½ tea sp ginger powder
Preparation:
Blend all the ingredients until they have turned to an homogenous cream. You may need some extra milk.
This dip is idea for courgette or aubergine balls.
