Meatballs

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Meatball mix

1. 1
   Grate the potato and onion.

   Grater
2. 2
   Soak the bread in cold water until it softens.

   Bowl
3. 3
   Squeeze the potato, onion and bread dry in a clean cloth.

   Kitchen towel
4. 4
   Mix the ground meat with the potato, bread, onion, eggs, salt and black pepper until evenly combined.
5. 5
   With wet hands, shape patties the size of golf ball.

   💡Wet hands don't stick to the mixture, and the patties come out smooth and even.

To assemble

1. 6
   Heat the oil in a pan and brown the meatballs 3–4 minutes per side.

   ⚙ Pan-fryingStoveFrying pan

   💡What you brown (meat, patties, schnitzel) goes into hot oil: in lukewarm oil it soaks it up and comes out greasy. For onion and garlic that you soften, oil heated over medium or low heat is enough; do not wait for it to smoke.
2. 7
   In a bowl, mix the tomato paste, olive oil, garlic and paprika with the salt.

   ⚙ Pan-fryingStoveFrying pan
3. 8
   Add and fry 3 minutes, until the peppers soften.

   ⚙ Adding to the hot fat and fryingStove

   💡Add by cooking time: what needs long (onion, carrot, meat) goes in first, and what burns fast (garlic, dry spices) goes in last, only until fragrant.
4. 9
   Add the paprika and stir about a minute, until fragrant.

   ⚙ SimmeringStove

   💡A gentle simmer, not a boil: a hard boil dries the food out and clouds it, a slow simmer cooks it evenly.
5. 10
   Combine the meatballs and the sauce in the pot. Turn down the heat, cover and simmer 30 minutes, until the meatballs are cooked and the sauce thickens.

   ⚙ SimmeringStovePotLid

   💡Drop the meatballs into boiling sauce and don't stir at first: that way they firm up and keep their shape.
6. 11
   Serve with white rice.