HASANPAŞA KÖFTE

HASANPASA MEATBALLS

This is one of my favorite Turkish-Ottoman dish. Recipe is from this site. I used this recipe several times and all of them are successful.

Ingredients:

For the meatball:

• 2 lb of ground beef
• 1 small size of onion ( finely chopped )
  
• 1 tsp of black pepper
• 1/2 cup of dry bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• salt

For the puree:

• 6 small size potatoes
• 1 cup of shredded mozzarella
• 1 egg
• 3/4 stick butter
• salt
  

Sauce:

• 1 tbsp of ground red pepper
• 1 tbsp of vegetable oil
  

Combine well all of the meatball ingredients in a large mixing bowl and leave in the refrigerator for 1 hour. Meanwhile boil the potatoes with their skin on and peel them just after they are cooked. Mash them with a masher. Add mozzarella cheese, butter, egg, and salt and knead it very well.

Take the meatball mixing from refrigerator and take small parts ( about the size of lime ) from the dough and give them the shape of small balls. Press an indentation into each ball with your finger. Place them on a baking tray. Preheat the oven 400 F. Bake them for 10 minutes.


Fill each meatball with 1 tbsp of puree. Bake them again for 10-15 minutes.
Take vegetable oil in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Add ground red pepper to the pan. Stir until pepper give their color to the oil ( around 30 seconds). Drizzle the sauce on top of the meatballs.
Serve warm with rice, yogurt, and salad.