Greek meatballs & kritharaki (orzo) in tomato sauce

Past two weeks were extremely busy for me and I didn't even have time to eat properly! What a shame! Today I'm making it up and decided to cook these delicious meatballs, served with kritharaki pasta & tomato sauce. This dish is one of the best comfort food you can think of! I mean, who doesn't like the classic combination of meatballs and pasta, right? I used kritharaki (orzo), but you can serve these amazing meatballs with any other type of pasta you like. 

INGREDIENTS (for about 20 meatballs):

• 500g minced meat (pork & beef combined)
• 1 onion
• 3-4 garlic cloves
• 1tbs dried mint
• handful parsley
• 1 egg
• 1 slice of stale bread
• 1/4 cup warm water 
• 3tsp oregano
• 1-2tsp cinnamon
• 2tsp grounded cumin
• salt & pepper to taste
• olive oil for frying
• few spoons of flour 

 

For orzo & sauce:

• 500ml tomato paste
• 250ml water
• 1 cup kritharaki (orzo)
• 1 onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1-2tsp oregano
• 1tbs sugar 
• olive oil for frying 
• salt & pepper to taste 
• handful chopped parsley

Combine meat with finely chopped onion and crushed garlic. Add spices, chopped parsley and mint. Soak up the bread in warm water and add into the mixture along with the rest of water. Add salt and pepper to taste, set aside for few minutes, so the tastes combine. Preheat a pan with few spoons of olive oil. Form meatballs size of a tangerine or a little smaller, roll them in flour and fry on each side until golden brown.

Prepare the sauce and orzo. Preheat a pan with few spoons of oil. Cut onion in small pieces and fry for about 5 minutes. Add crushed garlic and fry for another minute - watch it, because garlic gets bitter if fried too long. Pour water and tomato paste into a big pot. Add oregano, sugar, salt and pepper. Put on a medium heat and let it cook for about 10 minutes. Add fried onion & garlic. Stir it well and bring to boil. Add kritharaki and cook until pasts is soft (about 20-30 minutes). At the end, add parsley.

You can mix in meatballs or serve them on top of your pasta. This dish goes very well with a fresh salad and some feta cheese. I also like to sprinkle it with some extra fresh parsley. These meatballs have an amazing taste - combination of cinnamon, cumin and mint gives them a special flavor, which I love! This, and smooth, aromatic pasta in tomato sauce makes that dish one of my favourites!

Enjoy!