I just can’t help myself – I’m a serial-recipe-changer. You too? I read a recipe and can’t help but add (or subtract) an ingredient, or change the order of the instructions. Every. Single. Time. It’s nothing to do with the recipe itself, it’s more of a bad habit. I simply can’t help myself!
This Greek meatball recipe was no exception.
I can tell you it is an absolutely delicious recipe as it is, and was a big hit in our house. I loved the fact that it made two hearty meals for my family of three, for only $16 – BARGAIN! I already had the dry herbs and red wine vinegar in the cupboard, but other than that I bought everything and at $8 a meal, you’ve go to be happy, right?
To top it all off, prep time only took me 25 minutes, then it just bubbled away on the stove on its own. On a busy afternoon juggling kids, homework, swimming lessons and netball I need something that can be whipped together but will fill my family with healthy goodness on a budget. Tick, tick, tick!
You can see the original recipe by clicking here, and my slightly altered version below.
Stovetop Greek meatballs with feta recipe
Ingredients:
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 750g mince – beef, lamb or veal (I used a combination of beef and veal)
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 grated carrot
- 1 egg, lightly beaten
- 150g feta (I use Danish because of the creamy texture)
- 1 onion finely diced
- 1 clove garlic, minced (or 1/4 tsp minced garlic from a jar if you’re a cheat like me)
- 400g tin diced tomatoes
- 1 stock cube or 1 cup beef stock
- 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
- A pinch of brown sugar
Method:
- Combine minced meat, oregano, cumin, carrot & egg in a large bowl & mix well.
- Roll into gold ball sized meatballs and set aside. The recipe calls for 20 evenly sized meatballs, but it made 32 for me by making them a bit smaller (kid-friendly sized!)
- Cut 1/3 of the feta into small cubes (about 1cm). Use your pinky to push a hole in the centre of each meatball and place a cube of feta in the centre and enclose. You can see how yummy these are going to be right about now!
- Put a tsp of olive oil in a heavy based pan and cook in two batches until evenly browned. Set aside.
- Heat the remaining oil and add the onion and garlic to the same pan you cooked the meatballs in to retain the flavours. Cook for 2-3 minutes then add tomatoes, vinegar, stock and sugar. If you’re using a stock cube instead of a cup of ready-made stock, I fill the tomato tin with water and add the cube to that, mix and pour it into the pan.
- Simmer this mixture for about 10 minutes then add the meatballs and cook for 30 minutes.
- Serve with the remaining feta crumbled on top.
I can’t begin to tell you how amazing my house smelt with this bubbling away, and it was devoured without a single whine from my kids. WINNING!
There are a whole range of recipes on the new Origin LPG site, and they’re all as simple and delicious as this one. I think I’m going to try the Rhubarb & Strawberry Crunch next.
Disclaimer: Origin LPG asked me to try their new Winter Warmer recipes and I was rapt with the results as my kids didn’t grumble. That tells you that all opinions are my own!
