Meatballs in Red Sauce
1 - 1.5 pounds of meat (we like turkey but you can use any chop meat)
1 medium onion, grated (optional)
1 tsp chopped garlic (ready made is fine)
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp marak off
2-3 large eggs (we use one whole egg plus two egg whites)
1/4 cup of water or plain seltzer (secret ingredient)
1/2 cup approx of plain bread crumbs (without cheese)
Sauce
1 tbsp olive oil
1 onion sliced into thin strips (so fussy eaters can take them out)
1.5-2 tins of 4oz tomato paste
9 cups of boiling water
1 tsp marak off
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
3 tbsp ketchup
1. Whisk eggs with all the seasoning, garlic and water. Add the meat and mix well with spoon or hands
2. Add breadcrumbs to mixture and keep mixing well until the meat is less sticky...let it rest in the bowl
3. Meanwhile in a 4qrt pot saute the onion in the olive oil until the onion is golden brown, add to it the tomato paste, keep stirring and then add the 9 cups of boiling water...stir well so the tomato paste dissolves well
4. Add the ketchup, salt, pepper and marak off, keep stirring.
5. Let the sauce cook for about 15 minutes on a medium heat. Keep tasting to adjust the seasoning to your taste.
6. Wet your hands now and start making the meatballs. Using a tablespoon make the meatballs (any size you like, golf ball size works great). Drop the balls gently into the sauce.
7. As you drop the meatballs into the sauce pay attention to keep them separated in the sauce.
8. Cover the pot and leave the meatballs to cook in the sauce on a low heat for 45 minutes to an hour...honestly the longer the better.
9. Swoosh the sauce around to cover the meat balls, every now and then.
A family of 5 can eat this dish for two nights. If you have more meatballs left over on the 3rd night, mash them up with more red sauce and serve it as a meat sauce over spaghetti, rice or mash potato....delish!
This Babka recipe was given to us by Ronit. She brought a beautiful Babka for desert to my home and we bugged her until she sent us the recipe. We had to translate the recipe into English measurements so it's a little give or take. This makes 3 or 4 Babkas depending on the size you want them. Try it once and then tweak it the second time you make it...it's worth every bite. This Babka looks very impressive and is so delicious that you'll never want to buy another store made Babka again. Thank you Ronit.
Babka
1kg of flour....which is about 7-8 cups
2 tbs dry yeast
2 sticks of margarine, melted
1 1/4 cup milk
4 eggs
3/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1. Using the hook on your mixer, mix the flour, yeast, margarine, milk, eggs, sugar and salt last
2. Mix well on medium for 5 minutes, the dough will be sticky
3. Cover the bowl and let the dough rise for 1 to 1.5 hours
4. Divide the dough into 6-8 pieces
5. Roll out each piece, with a rolling pin, into a rectangle
6. Spread each piece with chocolate spread like Nutella or Shachar
7. Roll each piece into a cigar form
8. Connect two forms together and put them into a greased bread pan
9. Leave them alone to rise for half hour
10. Brush the Babka with a beaten egg and put into a preheated oven at 335 for about 40 minutes
11. When the Babka looks done, full and crusty, remove from the oven and brush with the prepared syrup
Syrup
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup water
drop of lemon
Cook on the stove until sugar has dissolved
Enjoy.
Hagit and Dafna
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