Souzoukakia ~ Authentic Greek Meatballs with Bacon

These meatballs have a unique flavor which comes from cumin in the meat and allspice and cinnamon in the sauce. This recipe is from a cookbook I bought when my husband and myself traveled to Santorini, Greece. Although the cookbook recipe didn't call for the bacon, I did have these meatballs with the bacon when I was in Greece and they were delicious!. Typically I like to serve this with rice and a tossed Greek Village Salad of cucumber, tomatoes, red onion, feta cheese and greens sprinkled with vinegar and olive oil.

Ingredients:

1 1/3 lbs of ground meat

4 cloves of crushed garlic

1 tsp ground cumin

1/4 c. dry white wine

1 c. soaked crust less bread

1 egg

12 bacon strips

1/4 c. olive oil

flour and oil for frying

Method:

Put first 6 ingredients into a bowl and knead well. Mold mixture into small oblong rolls and coat them with flour. Heat oil and fry them until they are browned and remove from pan. In the meantime, heat bacon strips in the microwave or in the oven until partially cooked and are flexible enough to be wrapped around one meatball. Secure the bacon with a toothpick and return meat bundles to the pan and cook until the bacon is cooked through.

Ingredients for the Sauce

1 1/2 c. skinned tomatoes, canned tomatoes are fine

2 c. water

1tsp butter

3 oz. canned tomato paste

salt and pepper

cinnamon and allspice

Put all ingredients and to a pot and simmer on low heat. When sauce is warm and blended, pour over meatballs and serve.

XO

For more information on this topic just follow this link to My King Cook.