Soutzoukakia

Directions

To make soutzoukakia meatballs

1. Place the bread in a small bowl and cover with water, leaving to soak until softened. Squeeze out and drain away moisture from bread, then mash with fork. Set aside.

2. Place the mince in a large bowl and add the grated onion, finely chopped garlic, spices, mashed bread, salt, parsley, olive oil and 1 lightly beaten egg.
   

3. Mix gently with hands until evenly combined.
   

To form the soutzoukakia

1. Take a large walnut-sized amount of mince mixture, place between the palms of your hands and roll into oval shape.

2. In a wide-based pot, heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Place the soutzoukakia in a layer at the bottom of pot and brown gently on both sides, for about 6 minutes. Cook in batches if they don’t all fit into the pot. Once browned, take them out of pot and set aside while you make the sauce.
   

3. In the same pot, add another 3 tablespoons of olive oil and the diced onion. Cook gently on medium heat until the onion softens. Add the cans of crushed tomato, water, bay leaves, cinnamon quill, spices and salt and bring to a simmer.

4. Add the soutzoukakia into the sauce and cook for 30 minutes on LOW-MED heat until the sauce has thickened and meatballs have cooked through.
   

To serve

1. Serve the soutzoukakia with saffron oilaf and a dollop of Greek yoghurt. It's equally delicious served with mashed potato or pasta.