Saganaki means anything that is made using a skillet. We have any kind of saganaki back in Greece, we have cheese saganaki, shrimp saganaki, pork saganaki , fish saganaki etc.
I used to find the wide variety in every restaurant in Greece and most of the time I didn’t know what to choose.
Last week my friend Heather reminded me of a traditional shrimp saganaki and so today I have one of our favorites, meatballs saganaki, a delicious recipe that you can accompany with rice, pasta but I prefer a side of fries. It’s also very common to accompany this dish with grilled vegetables, like zucchinis and eggplants.
(Pictures are from my Greek Food Blog, Captain Cook)
Ingredients
500 g medium ground beef
100 g white uncooked rice
1 egg
1 large onion, finely chopped
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 cup chopped fresh parsley
1/2 cup chopped fresh mint
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
3 ripe tomatoes grated or 1 cup diced canned tomatoes.
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 bay leaf
Salt - Pepper
200 g crumbled feta cheese
little mint and dried oregano for serving
How to make
Using a bowl add the ground beef, rice, egg, half the onion, herbs, salt and pepper.
Work the mixture and mold small meatballs, set them in a covered dish and in the refrigerator.
Place a deep ovenproof skillet over medium heat and add the olive oil. When the oil is hot, add the remaining onion and when it’s soft add the tomato paste and stir for 1 -2 minutes. Add the tomatoes, bay leaf, pepper and a little salt (not too much salt because you’ll add the salted feta later on). Add the meatballs, 1/2 cup of water, and when it comes to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile preheat the oven to 400 degrees.
Sprinkle the food with crumbled feta cheese and bake for 10 minutes.
Decorate with mint, sprinkle with oregano and serve.
