SOUTZOUKAKIA OVER MASHED POTATOES. CAULIFLOWER AS A SIDE DISH.

Soutzoukakia (Greek style meatballs in marinara sauce) over mashed potatoes. Cauliflower as a side dish.
SOUTZOUKAKIA.
Ingredients:
1/2 kilo (1 lb.) of lean ground beef.
1/2 loaf of a day-old bread (soaked in water).
1 egg.
1 medium size onion (chopped).
1 teaspoon of vinegar.
Salt, pepper, garlic.
Olive oil (for frying).
Flour.
MARINARA SAUCE.
Ingredients:
3 medium to large size ripe and juicy tomatoes (blended in the food processor).
1 medium size onion (chopped).
Olive oil (made for cooking).
Salt, pepper, garlic, all spice.
1 Tablespoon of sugar.
MASHED POTATOES.
4-5 medium size potatoes.
1 stick of fresh butter.
Milk.
Salt, pepper, garlic.
CAULIFLOWER.
1 medium size fresh cauliflower.
Lemon juice or vinegar.
Olive oil.
Salt.

Good morning, everybody. Today we’re 
going to make soutzoukakia which is   the Greek meatballs in tomato sauce. And 
we also going to make mashed potatoes and cauliflower as a side dish. So, we’re 
going to start with the ingredients. We use one pound of lean ground beef or a half 
a kilo. And I’m going to add it into my bowl. I’m going to add some old bread, which is a 
couple days old bread. You don’t want fresh bread. I have it soaked in water. You soak it 
for about an hour or so. Drain all the water. Squeeze it good and take the crust off. You just 
want the inside of the bread. So, let’s do that. Squeeze all the water out good. Add the inside (not the crust) of the bread into the mix. It’s a half a loaf of bread. Now I’m going to add some onions. I chopped two 
medium size onions for the meatballs and my sauce. I’m going to use one for the meatball mix and one 
when I make my tomato sauce. So, let’s add this in here. One egg. Salt. I use sea salt. That’s what we have 
here. Use as much as you like. Pepper. and garlic. You can use fresh 
garlic about four cloves of   fresh garlic crushed or garlic 
powder. I prefer garlic powder. Mix all of this together. My hands are clean. Use your hands to mix everything. Now, I did forget one ingredient which I’m   going to add in a minute. Let’s 
just mix everything together. I forgot the vinegar. Add   just a little bit of vinegar. I use red wine vinegar. And mix it. Let me turn my fryer on, the frying pan. Okay. Turn to medium high. I 
want to brown my meatballs, don’t cook them all the way. 
And while this is warming up, I’m going to start my sauce. Okay. In a regular pan, let’s pour some cooking olive oil. 
This is made just for cooking. Just enough to brown the onions. Let’s turn it on to medium high and wait till it heats up. 
In a different saucepan I   have my potatoes boiling. I cut them in 
half. I don’t know if you can see them and wait for everything to warm up. Okay. Again, we’re going to make the soutzoukakia, which 
is that’s the Greek name for meatballs cooked in tomato sauce. We’re going to make mashed potatoes 
and we pour the sauce over the mashed potatoes and add the soutzoukakia. Then we’re going to make 
cauliflower for a side dish. We use it for salad. We’re just going to boil the cauliflower. And at 
the end, we’re going to add vinegar. I’m sorry. You can add vinegar or lemon juice and olive oil 
and a little bit of salt. This is how we eat it here. I don’t have enough room right now to cook 
my cauliflower. When everything else is done, then I’m going to start the cauliflower. It doesn’t 
take a long time. So, I do use fresh cauliflower. It’s not frozen. And I did wash it. So, rinse 
it off a couple times with water and just let it sit for a while till I’m ready to 
cook it. Now the oil is getting hot. Let’s roll the meatballs into an oval shape. It’s 
a little different than the regular meatballs. I turn my heat down to medium. Get a fork. Make room to add some more. Now I’m going to add my onions. The oil 
is heated on the other pan. Turn it down to medium-low. Check the soutzoukakia. 
They need to be turned over. Not yet. They might fall apart. For better results (so they don’t fall apart or 
stuck at the bottom of the pan) I suggest you use   flour. I might need to do that for my second 
stash, so they don’t get stuck at the bottom. I use all-purpose flour. It is optional. Now for the sauce, let’s add the tomatoes. 
I blended about three medium size tomatoes. And I did add some water to it. So, I don’t 
need to add any more water while it’s cooking. Let’s add salt, pepper. garlic and a little bit of all spice. Not a lot. And one tablespoon of sugar. I’m turning the soutzoukakia 
over on my frying pan. I take some out and add few more. This time I’m going to use a little bit 
of flour so they don’t fall apart on me. Let’s add a few more. Always keep checking the 
soutzoukakia so they don’t burn. Okay. Let’s check the potatoes. Just put 
a fork in. They’re not ready yet. My sauce just came to a boil, so I’m 
going to turn it down to medium low. Cover it halfway and we go from there. So, 
after I finish my second batch of meatballs, I’m going to add them to the sauce 
soon. I’ll see you in a little while. Okay, I’m back. Now, I already cooked my 
meatballs right here. And I suggest you use flour to fry them because they can fall apart 
on you. In a minute, I’m going to add them to the sauce, but now I am going to cook my 
cauliflower. Just fill your pan with water. and turn your stove on high 
just to bring it to a boil. And when you bring it to a boil, 
you just reduce it to medium low,   and we go from there. It takes about 20 
minutes to cook after it starts to boil. Now my potatoes are done. So, I’m 
going to remove them from heat. I use my strainer to drain the water. I add them back to the pan. I’m going to add some butter. I use 
fresh butter. You can use one stick of butter. If you like more, you can use more. Let’s start mushing them. Add a little bit of milk and continue to mush them. You want to make them creamy. Add salt, some garlic. Not a lot. And a little bit of pepper. I used four medium size potatoes. 
You can use as many as you like. They look nice and creamy. Then we cover it and let it sit. And I’m 
going to add my meatballs into the sauce. Okay, let them cook on low heat for about 
10 minutes and that should be it. covering them halfway. Stir a little bit. Mashed potatoes are done. Soutzoukakia are 
almost done, we’re waiting for the cauliflower. I’m going to come back when everything 
is done and show you the final result. Okay guys, this is the final result. Make sure 
that when you make the cauliflower afterwards, you drain the water and you 
add a little bit of salt,   lemon juice, or vinegar and a little bit of olive 
oil. Enjoy your meal. See you next time. Bye-bye.