It’s Christmas time of year and many of us are stressed out. If you’re like me, busy cooking and hosting friends and family, then you may want to apply one of my festive season life hacks.
I always have a big pot of something yummy prepped as an emergency on crazy days – which is bound to happen.
Meatballs
- 1 kg minced beef (or minced meat of your choice)
- 8 cloves garlic minced
- 1 large onion diced
- 1 tbsp cumin powder
- ½ tbsp coriander powder
- ½ tbsp meat curry powder
- ½ tbsp chilli flakes
- ¼ cup chopped carrots
- ¼ cup chopped celery
- 1 cup fresh chopped coriander
- 1 large egg
- ½ cup breadcrumbs
- 1 tbsp plain flour
Preheat the fan-heated oven to 200°C. Place all the ingredients for the meatballs in one big bowl and combine everything with your hands.
Prepare a bowl of water to wet your hands before you start rolling out your meatballs. I usually roll my meatballs with a rough 1-inch diameter. Place your meatballs in a single layer on a baking tray with a slight drizzle of oil and place them in the preheated oven. At the 15-minute mark, you can quickly shake your tray to turn them around slightly.
After 20–25 minutes, your meatballs should have browned. The important factor here is to brown your meatballs, almost crispy at the edges, and solidify them to cook in the pot.
Sauce
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 5 cloves garlic minced
- 1 large onion diced
- 2 bay leaves
- 1 tbsp tomato puree
- 1 can chopped tomatoes
- 500 gm tomato pulp
- 1 tsp cumin powder
- ¼ tsp chilli flakes
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 1 tsp balsamic vinegar
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
Heat your pot up, pour oil in and then sweat off your onions and garlic. Wait until they turn quite golden before all the other ingredients go in, one by one in no particular order. Now put the lid on to bring your pot of tomato sauce to a simmer. When it begins to bubble at the top, your meatballs can go in. Give the sauce a quick stir, and then put the lid back on and simmer on a low to medium heat.
Leave your meatballs to stew slowly for 30 minutes and then remove from the heat, leaving your pot of deliciousness for another 30 minutes on its own to really come together. I usually serve my meatballs sprinkled with some fresh coriander and chilli flakes on top of pasta, or with a side of bread.
Enjoy! Happy Christmas!
Joy Entry is a Malaysian home cook based in Lagos who is obsessed with the provocative, unapologetic flavours of South-East Asian cuisine
Instagram: @thatasianhomecook
