Makes 18
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.
Recipe Category

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

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

¼ cup (60 ml) grated hard Italian cheese
¼ cup (60 ml) fresh breadcrumbs

Ina’s Tip

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.

Method

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.