Greek-style meatballs

Ingredients for 3 servings:

• 500 g minced meat, mixed
• 1 large onion(s)
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 tbsp spice mix for gyros
• 1 pinch of cumin
• 1 chili pepper(s), mild variety
• 1 tbsp tomato paste
• 1 egg(s)
• 3 tbsp breadcrumbs
• salt and pepper
• olive oil
• 1 pack of feta cheese
• 1 handful of black olives, pitted
• ½ tsp oregano, dried
• 2 tsp tzatziki sauce, without pieces

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Rest time approx. 1 hour; Total time approx. 1 hour 30 minutes

filled bifteki

Finely chop the onion and garlic (e.g., in a food processor). Deseed and finely chop the chili pepper (if you don’t have one, you can use cayenne pepper). Mix the minced meat with the egg, onion, garlic (or more to taste), and the remaining ingredients by hand to form a dough. Season generously with salt and pepper. Chill for 1-2 hours and let it marinate. Then knead briefly again. For the filling, finely mash the feta cheese on a plate with a fork. Finely chop the drained, pitted olives. Mix the feta cheese, olives, oregano, and tzatziki (just the “sauce”) into a paste. With moistened hands, scoop out portions of the minced meat mixture, flatten them, then use a teaspoon to scoop out a small portion of the cheese mixture and fill the meatball with it, carefully sealing it. The layer of minced meat around the filling shouldn’t be too thin, as otherwise the mixture could leak out during frying, which is obviously not what you want. Fry on both sides in a little olive oil. Serve with tzatziki. Serve with tomato rice and eggplant. Leftover filling can be mixed with cream cheese to make a spread.