Beef Meatballs with Cherry Tomatoes and small Eggs

Tajine de Boulettes de Beouf à la Tomate Cerise et aux Oeufs de Caille.

That was the name of the original recipe from my Gourmand magazine issue. I did not get any quail eggs today, but I bought size S(mall) ones instead. And I made the recipe my way.

I love meatballs, but I seldom prepare them. They are versatile and can be eaten with any kind of side dish. I choose Basmati to go with the sauce.

Recipe for 2:

400 g ground beef lean

4+1 egg

1 bread roll + 150 ml milk

2 green onions

3 garlic cloves

Half bunch parsley

75 g Ricotta

200 ml beef stock

50 ml tomato passata

200 g cherry tomatoes0

3 tbsp sunflower oil

Salt, pepper, Italian tomato seasoning, smoked paprika, cayenne pepper, chili

Breadcrumbs

Soak the bread roll in milk. Put green onion and garlic in a minichopper and get them chopped fine. Chop parsley or put it in the minichopper too.

Press the milk out of the bread roll and get 1 egg and the Ricotta together with the onion, garlic and parsley mix in a bowl with the ground meat. Season a lot to make the meatballs tasty later.

With wet hands form balls a bit bigger than golf balls. When all are ready, sprinkle some breadcrumbs over them. Heat up the oil in a large pan with a lid. 

Brown the meatballs on both sides, add tomato passata and hot beef stock and the halved cherry tomatoes. Bring to a boil, cover and reduce the heat to medium and cook for 15 min. Now make some wells in the pan and crack the eggs in. Cook 3 to 4 min.  Prepare the rice.

Sprinkle with more parsley.