The Greek Food

Tag: Minced Meat

  • Greek Pasta Recipe with Beef

    Greek Pasta Recipe with Beef

    Pasta might be the most traditional ingredient you can have in Italy but its also really popular in Greece, with some small variations.

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  • Greek Meatballs…or Giouvarlakia

    Greek Meatballs…or Giouvarlakia

    The following dish is a classic all over Greece, Cyprus and Turkey. The problem is that I cant really be sure how to write the name in English as I have seen it written in so many different ways in cooking blogs.

    It is giouvarlakia, or youvarlakia, or …Greek Meatballs!We have different kind of meatballs in greece that are famous. Fried or the classic soutzoukakia from Asia minor, you can pick and choose what you would like

    When my mother was making them when I was young for some reason I never categorized it as a soup, but apparently that’s what it is.  I checked somewhere that giouvarlakia in Turkish means “round” which makes sense. Not that it would make a difference to the recipe if you didn’t knew that, but I wanted to show that I did my research!

    INGREDIENTS FOR TRADITIONAL GREEK GIOUVARLAKIA

    • 500gr of minced beef
    • 1 onion minced
    • 1 bunch of parsley finely chopped
    • 1 small bunch of dill also finely chopped
    • 1/3 of a cup of rice
    • 3 tablespoons of olive oil..maybe a bit more
    • Flour… well, enough to cover all the meatballs you create
    • Salt and pepper

    METHOD FOR GIOUVARLAKIA

    • Well, first of all you need to put all the ingredients in a big bowl together with the olive oil and start to form the meatballs with your hands. Ideally with 500grs you should be able to make 20-24 meatballs. Using the flour you should cover all the meatballs creating a small outer layer on them. That will keep the meatballs and not dissolve as you add them to the water.
    • In a big cooking pot, add water until the middle. Add a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper and bring it to a boil. When the water is boiling, then reduce it a bit and start adding the meatballs. After you finished, then reduce the heat as much as possible. Still boil but really minimum, and slow cook it for about one hour.
    • After one hour prepare the egg lemon sauce and add it to the pot making sure it goes everywhere.

    In case you dont remember how to make the Egg Lemon sauce called in Greek Avgolemono...well, i have it over here for you .

    Sit down and enjoy a classic greek dish!

     

     

  • Soutzoukakia Smyrneika – Greek Meatballs with Red Sauce

    Soutzoukakia Smyrneika – Greek Meatballs with Red Sauce

    Well, the following is a recipe that comes from Asia Minor and Ismir, or Smirni as they used to call the city. It’s the Greek way to make meatballs with red sauce and it’s called Soutzoukakia Smyrneika.

    As I said, my father’s family was coming from Smyrni or the city that is called now Ismir and it’s in the middle of Asia minor, or else Turkey. Couple of years ago a lot of Greeks used to live over there but after the Greek Turkish war (one of the many we had) they had to leave and come to Greece. But enough with history and politics… this is a recipe that the Greeks did in Ismir and its there version of Meatballs with red sauce. That’s why the full name is “Soutzoukakia Smyrneika” as they were cooked in Smyrni.

    There are some different kinds of versions on the net regarding the recipe for Soutzoukakia but since my Grandmother was from Smyrni, this is as traditional recipe as it gets. After all when I asked my mother specifically if that’s the way my grandmother was doing them, her answer was pretty clear…

    “If I dared to change the recipe of your father’s mother, he would kill me…”

    ..Greek couples…

    So let’s try to see

    INGREDIENTS SOUTZOUKAKIA SMYRNEIKA (greek meatballs)

    • 500gr of beef minced meat
    • 1 onion chopped
    • 2 garlic cloves
    • 1 cup of rice
    • Olive oil, salt and pepper
    • 2 teaspoons of cumin
    • 1 cinnamon stick
    • 1 cup of rice
    • 1 can of tomato juice
    • crumb from 2 slices of bread
    Soutzoukakia Smyrneika
    Well, i have to say, they didnt become as thin as i wanted to. But still they are tasty

    In a big pot you add the minced meat, onions, garlic, salt, pepper , a bit of olive oil and the cumin.  Use your hands and mix them in a big bowl.

    You should try and mould them in a big ball and place them in the fridge for 15 minutes. After that, remove it and start making your meatballs. They should be thin and long as much as possible.

    Make sure that you put in to your fingers some vinegar and “wet” the outside of the soutzoukakia with your fingers

    In a frying pan, we add some olive oil in medium heat and then place each one and fry them for 5 mins from each side. Just enough so they can get a bit brownish from each side.

    Remove them from the pan and place them on the side. On the same pan, add some olive oil and garlic cloves in medium heat. Add the tomato juice, cinnamon stick, a bit of water and the meatballs in and let them boil for 30 minutes. Just enough so the sauce mixes properly with your meatballs.

    Make the rice as you would normally do and serve them pipping hot!

  • Beef burgers recipe

    Beef burgers recipe

    When i was in Greece, burgers had always a special place in our menu. Home made ones i mean of course…

    I still remember the looks of the pan getting out of the oven with the round burgers and sizzling oven potatoes as my mother were placing them on the kitchen board to get some rest. I had kept some minced meat from last time when i made the peinirli which gave me the idea to make some nice burgers. Well, to be honest it wasn’t so much left….so i made only one, but it was big enough.

    I think what makes this recipe so nice is the addition of the trimmed tomato as it gives a nice sweet taste to the burger that is kind of different in relation to what i usually tried. The portions are adjusted for a one mans meal… so you made your own adjustments depending on the amount you are looking for and hopefully it will come up as nice as it did for me.

    Ingredients

    • 250gr of minced beef.
    • 1/4 of a big onion trimmed
    • 1/2 medium small size tomato trimmed
    • A bit of oregano
    • 1-2 teaspoons of olive oil
    • One small cup of vinegar
    • Salt and pepper
    • The crumb from 1 slice of bread

     

    The whole idea is pretty simple on how to make the burgers and i guess that is what makes it so nice. In a big bow you add all the ingredients and you start mixing them with your hands until you manage to form one big burger. You can brake it up to two i guess but i preferred to make one big one. When you do that make sure to leave them in the fridge for 10-15 minutes to relax.

    Put it to a per-heated oven  in medium heat and leave it over there until you see it becomes brown. Pinch it a bit with the fork to see there is no blood coming out but in the same time its not completely dry…and its ready. You can serve them with oven baked potatoes .. or just salad…or both…its up to you!

     

  • Gemista – Greek Stuffed tomatoes and peppers

    Gemista – Greek Stuffed tomatoes and peppers

    The following is by far my favourite Greek Dish. Ok this and souvlakia which you can read here. Well, both ways Gemista is a recipe I really like to cook and one of the most traditional Greek recipes you can find.

    It takes a lot of time though and needs some preparation, so don’t start to do it if you really don’t have time.

    Nevertheless if you try it once, I am sure you will try it again… Just before we go to the ingredients, a simple note, the size of the peppers and tomatoes must be more or less the same or else its possible some of them not be rightly cooked..

    In Greece many people debate whether Gemista should be served with minced meat or without making them a purely Vegetarian food. As if we didn’t had any other reasons to fight… Thats the reason why the recipe is placed in multiple categories on my blog. The only thing that you have to do is prepare the stuffing with the minced meat and the rest is more or less the same.

    The truth is that either way its great. It is a great dish especially for the summer when tomatoes and peppers are at their best!

    INGREDIENTS FOR GEMISTA (GREEK STUFFED TOMATOES AND PEPPERS) RECIPE

    Gemista
    Stuffed tomatoes, peppers and potatoes
    • 500gr of minced meat beef
    • 4-5 beef tomatoes and 1 pepper
    • 1 cup of rice
    • 1 onion finely chopped
    • 2cloves of garlic
    • 1 small bunch of parsley chopped
    • Olive Oil, salt, pepper
    • 1 can of tomato juice.

    HOW TO COOK GEMISTA

    • First of all we need to make the stuffing that we are going to fill in the vegetables.
    • We need to cut the tomatoes making a little “hat” on top of them and with a spoon to remove all of its inside. Dont throw it away,we will need it!
    • So go ahead and grab a deep frying pan and add 2 tea spoons of olive oil and in medium heat throw in the onions and the garlic. Let them sizzle a bit and stir them. Be careful not to burn them.
    • Throw the minced meat in and stir it well until it becomes brownish.
    • Add Salt, pepper and 2-3 teaspoons of oregano. Pour the tomato juice and the inside juice from the tomatoes you have removed. Let it cook for 5-6 minutes making sure you stir it in the mean time.
    • Add the rice and then fill the frying pan with water and let it boil. Let it cook and taste it in the mean time to make sure that the rice is cooked..
    • As it is being cooked the water will evaporate and a lit bit before its done you should add the chopped parsley removing it from the heat
    • You need to stuff the tomatoes and the peppers with the mixture.
    • Take a spoon and simple add the mixture inside but dont over do it because that might crack the tomatoes.
    • When you fill them, you need to close the tomatoes and peppers with the tops.
    • Bake it in a preheated oven for around an hour…an hour and a half. Make sure that your pan, has always a bit of water in it. For the pan i have on the picture i just added a glass. The water evaporates making sure the tomatoes are getting softer.
    • When the vegetables become slightly blackened on the sides then it’s ready. Don’t serve it immediately but let it “mellow” for some minutes.
    • It is best done with oven baked potatoes which you can add in the same pan.

    This is typically a summer food that you can have even cold. Hope you enjoy it!

    Gemista
    Our Stuffed tomatoes and Peppers are ready!