Youvarlakia

Youvarlakia

Here it is…our first attempt at documenting our family recipes. Between work schedules, kids activities, and our Mom’s church volunteering, it took us awhile to get this first post off the ground. So, when we finally found the time and had to decide what to make it boiled down to two things: something that wouldn’t take all day, and something that our kids would eat. If we were going to take the time to cook, document the recipe, and take pictures, we definitely didn’t want to have to make dinner that night! This isn’t the prettiest or the most well-known Greek dish out there, but it is something that we ate all the time growing up. A weeknight staple, if you will. It requires basic ingredients and doesn’t take long to come together. Plus, our kids love these and call them ‘Golden Meatballs’. What more can you ask for?

Scroll to the bottom of this post for the full recipe, including modifications to make this egg-free if you happen to love someone with an egg allergy.

Here’s how you make it:

Boil some water in a small saucepan. Add the rice just until the water starts to boil again, then drain it and set it aside.

Saute a chopped onion until it is translucent and soft, then add it to the rice.

Add chopped parsley to the rice and onion. Stir it around to let the mixture cool.

Add 3 cups water, salt and pepper to the pot in which you sautéed the onion. Let it simmer while you make the meatballs.

Add the parley, rice and onion to ground beef and combine well. Add one egg and some olive oil and mix some more.

Form into meatballs, well actually long, thin barrel shapes that look like this.

Ready?

Add the meatballs to the simmering water one at a time. You want to go slowly so that the water temperature doesn’t drop.

The water should just barely cover the meatballs. Add more (boiling) water to the pot if you need to.

Cook covered for about 30 minutes or until the meatballs are cooked through and look like this.

Then drain all the liquid into a small saucepan. Time to make the sauce.

Beat eggs with an electric mixer.

Add lemon juice, continue to mix.

Add the reserved warm broth a little at a time while you mix. If you add it too fast, you’ll get scrambled eggs which is definitely not the desired effect. Keep mixing until it is frothy and creamy like this.

Pour sauce over the meatballs, and serve. Like we said, not the prettiest but it tastes great. Promise.

Youvarlakia (Golden Meatballs) Serves 4-6

Source: Athena Merianos

Ingredients

1/3 cup long grained rice (Mom always uses Uncle Ben’s)

1 medium onion, minced

1/2 cup flat-leafed parsley, minced

2 lbs ground beef

1 egg (can omit if want to make this egg-free)

salt and pepper

for sauce:

2 eggs

juice of 2 lemons

reserved broth

egg-free sauce option :

1T flour

juice of 2 lemons

reserved broth

To make meatballs:

Boil 1 cup of water in a small saucepan. Add rice. Bring to a boil and then immediately remove from heat, drain water and set rice aside in a large mixing bowl.

Heat 1 Tsp olive oil in a medium pot over medium-high heat and sauté onion until translucent and soft. Remove onion from pot and add to rice to cool.

And add 3 cups water, 1 heaping teaspoon salt and pepper (to taste) to the pot you just used for the onions. Let simmer while you form meatballs.

Add parsley, salt and pepper to onion/rice mixture and combine. Add ground beef and one egg. Combine very well using your hands (Note: If making without egg, wet your hands first — adds some moisture so meatballs won’t be tough). Drizzle with a little olive oil and mix again until just combined. Form into long thin barrel shapes.

Turn the water up to high and bring to a boil. Slowly add the meatballs one at a time to the boiling water in order to maintain the water temperature (If you add them too fast the water temp will drop and the water will cease to boil). Keep a small pot of water boiling on the side in case you need to add liquid to the pot. There should be just enough liquid in the pot to barely cover the meatballs. Reduce heat, cover, and let simmer for about 30 minutes or until meatballs are cooked through.

When meatballs are cooked through, carefully drain all of the liquid into a small saucepan. Keep meatballs covered in pot (off heat) to keep warm while you make the sauce.

To make sauce:

Beat eggs in a medium bowl with an electric mixer.

Add lemon juice and continue to beat until frothy.

Using a ladle, slowly add warm reserved broth one scoop at a time to egg/lemon mixture (keep mixing). Careful not to add the broth too quickly or it will scramble the eggs.

When all of the broth has been added, return the mixture back to the pot with the meat. Shake the pan to distribute the sauce. Combine gently to prevent meatballs from breaking.

For egg-free sauce:

Combine reserved broth, 1T flour, and lemon juice using immersion blender until frothy.

kouzina cousins

food is love

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