An Izmirian in The Main Courses: Izmir-Style Meatballs

When it’s food we’re talking about; we, the Izmirians, are famous for our crispy gevrek, perfectly fried and laden with sesames or boyoz, fresh out of oven and golden with its crispy layers breaking in flakes; past the breakfast, the main and side dishes with olive oil that we eat while sipping on our drinks with our friends around a dinner table; as for the desserts, lokma that puts a smile on the faces of people when it soaks up the sugary syrup and gets offered to people in every corner of the city (people offer lokma on the streets for the sake of their deceased beloved ones).

But when it comes to the main courses, the Izmirians have their powerful weapons too: such as the Izmir style meatballs…

Ingredients:

1 kilogram of mined meat

1 onions

Crumbs of 5-6 loaves of bread

1 egg

1-2 potatoes

Green pepper

1 bunch of parsley

1 tablespoon of tomato paste

Olive oil

Salt

Black pepper

Mix the diced onions, bread crumbs, egg and the minced meat together. Add to the mixture salt, black pepper and olive oil to your taste and knead it to reach a homogenous consistency. Shape the mixture into little a bit flat pieces of meatballs.

Fry them in a pan without adding oil until they become pinky while placing the potato slices at the bottom of a pot. When done with the frying process, place them on the top of the potatoes and then, add the tomato and the green peppers. Prepare a blend with water and tomato paste and pour it into the pot along with some olive oil. If you’d like, put the bunch of parsley into the pot only to take it back when cooked enough.

When the potatoes are cooked, which means in half an hour, you will have added another Izmirian taste to your menu.

Bon appétit and enjoy the taste of life…