Eat

FOOD & HOME

Chocolate Delights | Make Your Own Jam | WFH Essentials

Portrait of Tammy Strobel

"Meatballs page 72"

Make The Most of Mince

If you have a kilo (or two) of mince in the freezer, here are our tastiest ways to prepare this versatile protein
My Reading Room
BASIC MINCE

Prep and Cook 15 mins | Serves 6

2 slices (90 g) white bread
⅓ cup (80 ml) milk
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 medium (150 g) brown onion, chopped finely
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 medium (120 g) carrot, grated finely
1 kg minced beef
¼ cup chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
1 egg

2 tbsps tomato paste

1. Place the bread and milk in a large bowl; stand for 10 mins.

2. Heat oil in a small frying pan over medium heat; cook onion and garlic, stirring, for 5 mins or until softened. Add onion mixture to bread mixture with remaining ingredients; season well. Combine ingredients well using your hands.
 
My Reading Room

MEATLOAF

Preheat oven to 200 C (180 C fan-forced). Line a large oven tray with baking paper. Shape Basic Mince into a 30 cm log in centre of paper. Cover mixture with 100 g pancetta slices, slightly overlapping. Brush with ¼ cup barbecue sauce combined with 1 tbsp brown sugar. Bake meatloaf for 45 mins or until cooked through.
 
My Reading Room

MEATBALLS

Shape 1½ tbsps of Basic Mince into balls. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a large frying pan; cook balls, in batches, until browned. Remove from pan. Add 700 g tomato passata and 1 cup chicken stock to pan; bring to the boil. Return meatballs to pan. Reduce heat, simmer for 5 mins or until cooked. Serve with parmesan and basil leaves.
 
My Reading Room

Turkish-style pizza with minted yoghurt 

My Reading Room

"Sausage rolls"

SAUSAGE ROLLS

Prep and Cook 35 mins | Makes 72

1 medium (150 g) onion, chopped finely
½ cup (35 g) stale breadcrumbs (see Tip, below)
500 g sausage mince
500 g minced beef
1 egg
1 tbsp tomato paste
1 tbsp barbecue sauce
2 tbsps finely chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley
6 sheets puff pastry
1 egg, extra, beaten lightly

2 tbsps sesame seeds

1. Preheat the oven to 220 C (200 C fan-forced). Line oven trays with baking paper.

2. Combine onion, breadcrumbs, sausage mince and beef, egg, tomato paste, barbecue sauce and parsley in a large bowl.

3. Cut pastry sheets in half lengthways. Place equal amounts of filling mixture lengthways along centre of each pastry piece (see tip, below); roll each pastry piece, from one wide edge, to enclose filling. Cut each roll into six pieces; place rolls, seam-side down, on trays. Brush with extra egg, sprinkle with sesame seeds.

4. Bake for 25 mins or until golden.

TIP: To make stale breadcrumbs, use 2 to 3-day-old bread and process in batches. To make sure you get an equal amount of filling mixture in each sausage roll, pipe it down the length of the pastry using a piping bag that is fitted with a 2 cm plain tube.
 
My Reading Room
TURKISH-STYLE PIZZA WITH MINTED YOGHURT

Prep and Cook 50 mins | Serves 4

¼ cup (60 ml) extra virgin olive oil
1 medium (150 g) onion, chopped finely
1 clove garlic, crushed
500 g minced lamb or beef
1 tsp chilli flakes
2 tsps ground cumin
½ tsp ground cinnamon
1½ tsps mixed spice
1 tsp grated lemon rind
2 tbsps lemon juice
½ cup (125 ml) beef stock
400 g canned chopped tomatoes
430 g Turkish bread (pide)
⅓ cup (50 g) pine nuts, toasted (see Tip, below)
¼ cup fresh flat-leaf parsley leaves

¼ cup fresh micro or baby mint leaves

MINTED YOGHURT
200 g Greek-style yoghurt

1 tbsp chopped fresh mint

1. Preheat the oven to 220 C (200 C fan-forced).

2. Heat 1 tbsp of the oil in a large frying pan; cook onion and garlic, stirring, for 5 mins or until onion has softened. Add lamb; cook, stirring, breaking up the lumps with a wooden spoon, until lamb is browned. Add spices; stir until fragrant. Add rind, juice, stock and tomatoes; cook, stirring, over medium heat until most of the liquid has evaporated. Remove from heat.

3. Cut bread horizontally in half, place on an oven tray. Drizzle halves with remaining oil; bake for 8 mins or until lightly golden.

4. Spoon lamb mixture onto bread halves, pressing evenly, leaving a 1 cm border, sprinkle with pine nuts. Cover with foil; bake for 10 mins. Remove foil, bake for a further 10 mins or until browned lightly.

5. MINTED YOGHURT: Meanwhile, combine ingredients in a small bowl.

6. Finally, serve pizzas cut into thick slices topped with herbs and Minted Yoghurt.

TIP: Pide (pronounced pih-day) is made from wheat and usually topped with sesame seeds and black nigella seeds. To toast pine nuts, place in a small dry frying pan over medium heat; stir frequently until browned lightly. Remove from pan immediately.

Flavour Twists

● Middle Eastern Use minced lamb in place of both minces, 2 tbsps Middle Eastern spice blend instead of barbecue sauce, and coriander instead of parsley.

● Pork and fennel Use minced pork in place of both minces, add ½ tsp celery salt, 2 tsps pounded fennel seeds and chopped dill instead of parsley. Swap fennel seeds for sesame.

PHOTOS: JOHN PAUL UNIZAR/BAUERSYNDICATION.COM.AU