
Flavourful Frikkadels
A lovely frikkadel recipe with a bacon twist, baked in a delicious tomato sauce. Our tasters raved about it. Do check out the tip at the end of the recipe.
YOU WILL NEED
- 2 slices bread, white or brown, with crusts OR 2 slices bread, white or brown, with crusts removed
- ½ cup (125 ml) fresh full cream milk
- 1 T (15 ml) butter or olive oil
- 125 g streaky bacon, diced
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- ½ t (2.5 ml) Ina Paarman’s Green Onion Seasoning
- 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 1 x 25 g Ina Paarman’s Liquid Beef Stock
- 1 egg
- 500 g beef mince
- 1 t (5 ml) Ina Paarman’s Meat Spice or Garlic Pepper Seasoning
- 2 T (30 ml) chopped parsley
Tomato Sauce
- 2 ripe tomatoes peeled and chopped
- ½ t (2.5 ml) Ina Paarman’s Chilli & Garlic Seasoning
- 400 g Ina Paarman's Tomato & Basil Pasta Sauce
- 1 T (15 ml) balsamic vinegar
Topping
- ¼ cup (60 ml) grated hard Italian cheese
- ¼ cup (60 ml) fresh breadcrumbs
Adjust oven rack to middle position. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Pour the milk over the bread and leave to soak. Foam the butter in a frying pan, add the diced bacon and stir-fry until the bacon is crispy. Spoon bacon out with a slotted spoon. Add onion to the bacon fat in the pan together with Green Onion Seasoning. Sauté the onion until soft.
Add garlic and sauté ± 1 minute. Add undiluted Beef Stock, stir through, remove from heat and allow to cool. In a mixing bowl, beat the egg lightly, add the mince and Seasoning. Mash the soaked bread with a fork and add. Add parsley and cooled onion mixture. Roll into balls, ± ¼ cup size.
Sauce
To make the sauce, mix everything together and ladle into 6 individual ovenproof dishes, or one large ovenproof dish. Arrange the frikkadels in the sauce. Sprinkle a mixture of grated cheese and breadcrumbs over. Bake for 35 minutes until nicely browned. Serve with rice and a salad.
Mix ½ t (2.5 ml) bicarbonate of soda with 1 T (15 ml) of water and add it to the mince mixture. The bicarb raises the pH of the mixture and makes the meatballs soft and moist.