Ingredients:
For the Soutzoukakia
500 g minced beef
2-3 cloves garlic, mashed
2 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp cumin
½ tbsp ground nutmeg
100 gr dried Rusks
1 cup dry red wine
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
For the sauce:
1 kg fresh tomatoes, grated
2 tbsp olive oil or butter
2 clove garlic, crushed or chopped
1 tbsp. tomato paste
1 pinch of sugar
2-3 allspice whole
Salt
Pepper
1 tsp ground cumin
Pinch of nutmeg
To give extra flavor to the soutzoukakia, soak the rusks in wine
After it has soaked well, squeeze it and keep the wine aside.In a bowl, place the minced meat , rusks, and all the remaining ingredients and knead them all together until the minced meat is fluffy.
Place the minced meat mixture in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes.
Heat a little olive oil or butter (I use a bit of both) in a frying pan, over medium to high heat.
We shape them into small football shaped , dipping our hands in the wine in between.
Fry them without flouring them for 2-3 minutes.Until nice and golden,
Set them aside.
For the sauce
Heat the olive oil in a saucepan, add the garlic and sauté for 1 minute.
Add the tomatoes and all the other ingredients for the sauce.
If you use canned tomatoes instead of fresh tomatoes, add a little water to the pot.
Boil the sauce for 10-15 minutes until it thickens well.
Add the soutzoukakia to the tomato sauce and simmer for about 10 minutes. Don’t over cook them, they are small in size, therfore they cook quickly.
If you have made them large, then they need more time to fry and more time to cook in the sauce.
Serve with rice. I love them with basmati rice
Enjoy:)
