Description
Soutzoukakia is a dish made of Greek baked meatballs in a traditional red sauce. The meatballs are shaped like rugby balls and the red sauce is made with tomato purée, red wine, and a bit of cinnamon.
Ingredients
6 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
2 slices whole wheat bread, toasted
1/3 cup milk (see notes*)
2 lbs. lean ground beef
2 medium yellow onions, diced & divided by half
6 garlic cloves, minced & divided by half
2 large eggs
2 tablespoons ground cumin
3 tablespoons dried oregano
1 tablespoon cinnamon
3/4 cup dry red wine (see notes*)
1 handful fresh parsley, chopped
2 cups passata
1 bay leaf
2 teaspoons organic honey
salt
black pepper
Instructions
- Place toasted whole wheat bread in a small bowl and cover it with milk. Once bread has absorbed milk and becomes soft, squeeze the remaining liquid out of the bread and set aside in large mixing bowl. Discard milk.
- Add ground beef, 1 chopped onion, 3 chopped garlic cloves, 2 large eggs, 1 tablespoon EVOO, 2 tablespoons dried oregano, 1 tablespoon ground cumin, ½ tablespoon ground cinnamon, ½ cup chopped fresh parsley, salt, & pepper to large mixing bowl. Mix in with bread by hand. Knead thoroughly until combined. Cover mixture and put in refrigerator.
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Coat a large baking dish with EVOO (about 3 tablespoons) and set aside.
- While oven is heating, heat 2 tablespoons EVOO in large skillet over medium heat until shimmering, but not smoking. Add remaining onion and cook for 4 minutes. Add remaining garlic. Stir continuously for 1 minute until garlic is aromatic. Add red wine and reduce by half. Once wine is reduced, add passata, honey, bay leaf, salt, pepper, and remaining dried oregano, cumin, & cinnamon. Bring sauce to a boil. Once boiling, lower heat and simmer sauce for about 15 minutes.
- While sauce is simmering, take meat mixture out of refrigerator and uncover. Set up your work space with bowl of water and prepared baking dish. Wet hands in bowl of water and scoop meat mixture into hands. Roll meat into balls about the size of a golfball and then continue to roll them out into oblong shapes similar to a rugby ball. Space meatballs in baking dish 1 inch apart. Discard bowl of water once all meatballs are formed. When sauce has a thicker consistency, remove bay leaf and cover each meatball in sauce on the baking dish. Leave remaining sauce in skillet on stove over very low heat to keep warm.
- Place baking dish in oven on middle rack. Bake for 25 minutes. Check meatballs to make sure the sauce is not burning. If needed, add a small amount of water to the bottom of baking dish. Flip meatballs, add more sauce if needed, and return to oven. Bake for an additional 20 minutes.
- Remove from oven when time is up. Garnish with remaining chopped fresh parsley. Serve with your favorite side dish and use remaining sauce to smother meatballs or spread around plate to add to your aesthetic.
Notes
water can be used as a substitute for milk if you’re lactose intolerant or don’t wish to use it.
use agiorgitiko to keep it Greek. Chianti or sangiovese work best as substitutes, as they’re also from the Mediterranean region. Read the blog post introduction for other suggestions.
- Prep Time: 20 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour 15 minutes
- Category: Appetizer, Lunch, Dinner
- Method: Oven Baked
- Cuisine: Greek
Keywords: red sauce, greek red sauce, tomato sauce, greek tomato sauce, traditional greek food, greek food, cooking greek, cook greek, greek meatballs, olive oil, EVOO, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, minced garlic, yellow onion, onion, milk, water, whole wheat, wheat bread, bread, whole wheat bread, slices of bread, toast, toasted bread, ground beef, beef mince, lean ground beef, beef, lean beef, egg, eggs, ground spices, spice, spices, ground nutmeg, nutmeg, herbs, dried herbs, oregano, dried oregano, oregano leaves, dried oregano leaves, cinnamon, ground cinnamon, red wine, cooking wine, dry wine, dry red wine, red cooking wine, fresh herbs, parsley, fresh parsley, italian parsley, curly parsley, parsley leaves, chopped parsley, garnish, parsley garnish, passata, bay, bay leaf, strained tomatoes, bay leaves, honey, organic honey, organic ingredients, organic, fresh ingredients, baked, oven, oven baked, skillet, cast iron