Sutzukakia is a very popular recipe in Greece. Like the moussaka and other Greek dishes, it is really made with lamb meat, but it can be substituted with 50% pork and 50% beef to reduce the price.
INGREDIENTS (4 people) :
• 500 grams (1.1 lbs) of minced lamb meat (with as little fat as possible)
• 1 egg
• 1 large onion
• 8 ripe tomatoes
• Stale bread
• Garlic
• Parsley
• Vinegar
• Red wine
• Wheat flour
• Salt
• Black pepper
• extra virgin olive oil
The preparation of this dish consists of two phases. The first is to make the meatballs and the second is to cook the sauce.
First, soak the stale bread (2 or 3 slices will suffice) in water until it softens. Remove and drain by placing on absorbent paper.
In a bowl, mix the minced meat, the egg, two finely chopped garlic cloves, a tablespoon of vinegar and the onion and a little chopped parsley, as well as salt and black pepper (with a teaspoon and a half of the latter, respectively, should be enough). If the dough is very liquid, add little by little wheat flour.
With the resulting dough we make small cylinders (somewhat larger than conventional croquettes) and put them in the fridge for an hour.
While we prepare the sauce, which is nothing more than making a fried tomato sauce with a glass of red wine. When the fattening sauce will be ready. Although some recipes indicate adding flour, I do not recommend it.
Now we are going to fry the meat cylinders. We pass them through flour for batter and keep them in the pan until they are golden. It is opportune to split one, once the frying seems good, to make sure that it is not raw inside. If that happens, you fry them more until they are black, you simply put them in the oven at 180 degrees (356 F) for about 10 minutes and that's it. Then it is convenient to remove excess oil by placing them on absorbent paper.
It is time to take the fried balls and put them in the sauce to cook the whole for about 10 minutes, stirring carefully.
They are often served with chillies, chips or rice.