Traditional Romanian meatballs are very different than the Belgian boulettes. If I weren’t so biased, I’d say they are much better, but hey!, I’m not even gonna dare going there. So what are the differences? Firstly, the composition. Romanian meatballs are made out of pork with lots of grated veggies and herbs inside. The Belgian ones are mostly beef, or a combination of pork and beef/ veal, onion and sometimes parsley. Then, there’s the shape. We like smaller, flat meatballs, while the Belgians make them large and round. And finally, there’s the cooking method. Traditionally, we roll the meatballs in flour and then deep fry them (I confess, I do the light version: no flour, simply cooked on the grill). As for the boulettes? They are, most of the times, fried in butter…yes, yes, this sounds delicious!
So, are you curious to know how the Romanian meatballs are made?
What you need
800 grams ground pork or a combo of pork and veal
One medium onion
One large garlic clove (or two, three, if you’re like me)
One carrot
One egg
One small bread slice
A handfull of parsley
A handfull of dill (I dispise dill, so I never add it)
Salt and pepper
How to make Romanian meatballs
Start by finely chopping the onion, the parsley and the dill. Grate the carrot and the garlic. Soak the bread slice in warm water and then squeeze it well and mince it. In a large bawl, mix all ingredients and make sure everything is well mixed and evened out. Start forming the meatballs, don’t forget to flatten them a bit. In the meantime, heat the grill and line up the beautiful meatballs. I usually keep them a about three minutes on each side.
Now, if you wanna go hardcore-traditional, you need to roll the meatballs through flour and then deep-fry them in (hot) sunflower oil. Undeniably, they are very good cooked like this, but the flour-oil combo is not the most healthy. Give it a try once, but don’t over-indulge 🙂
That’s it! Next to this light meatballs, I had a baked potato with cheese and a small salad. Lunch Nirvana: achieved!
the pickled spruit. 