Meatballs in sweet and mild tomato and dill sauce

Ingredients for 4 servings:

• 500 g minced meat, mixed or pork mince
• 1 medium-sized potato(s), cooked
• 1 onion(s)
• 2 tbsp oil
• 1 egg(s)
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp marjoram, alternatively oregano
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tsp white pepper
• 1 tsp paprika powder
• 4 tbsp flour for rolling
• 400 ml water or vegetable stock
• 2 carrots
• 4 tbsp, heaped tomato paste
• 50 ml water, cold
• 2 tbsp flour
• 100 ml whipped cream
• 1 bay leaf
• salt and pepper
• Paprika powder
• Sugar
• some stalks of dill, if you don’t like dill, use flat parsley

Instructions

Working time approx. 30 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 30 minutes; Total time approx. 1 hour

perfect family dish, popular with children

For the meatballs, finely dice the onion and sauté in oil for a few minutes until translucent. Remove the pan from the heat and let the onions cool. Mash the potato with a fork and press the garlic or chop it very finely. Add the potato, garlic, egg, marjoram, soy sauce, remaining spices, and the now cooled diced onion to the meat and mix everything well. Form the meat mixture into 8 balls and coat each one in flour. Peel the carrots and roughly dice them. Bring 400 ml of water (or unsalted vegetable stock) to a boil in a saucepan, add the meatballs, carrots, and bay leaf, season with about a level teaspoon each of salt, pepper, paprika, and sugar, and reduce the heat so that the stock is just boiling and no longer bubbling. Cover and simmer for about 20 minutes. Remove the meatballs with a ladle and set aside. Discard the bay leaf. In a small bowl, whisk together 50 ml of cold water with the cream and flour. Stir until all the flour lumps have dissolved. Add a little of the hot stock and continue stirring. Finally, add the tomato paste and stir well again until no lumps remain. Pour this creamy mixture into the pot with the hot stock and stir in well. Finely chop the dill (or parsley) and add it to the sauce. Add the meatballs to the finished sauce and bring the sauce back to a boil briefly. You can also omit the dill or – if you like – sprinkle it directly on the plate. The sauce tastes delicious even without herbs. Serve with homemade mashed potatoes or boiled potatoes tossed in butter.