In Praise of Wonderful Soutsoukakia!

I am a big fan of meatballs. They come in so many interesting varieties, from small Swedish ones to huge burgers in the USA. About my favourite, however, are soutsoukakia; the sausage-shaped meatballs found in Greece and, especially, here on Crete.


Now soutsoukakia recipes are a little like belly-buttons in as much as everyone has got one of their own. To my mind what makes them unique is the addition of mint & cumin but I was surprised recently while chatting with a chef from northern Greece to hear he would dream of putting mint in them. The point I'm making is that it has always been my belief that recipes should be guidelines rather than absolutes. If you don't like mint, put parsley in. Jazz the sauce up with a couple of chillis if you want, The food police will not come round and arrest you!


Here's my recipe. As usual, don't worry too much about the grams. If you want to test the seasoning, fry a small patty and taste it before making all of the meatballs up.


You will need:

For the meatballs;

1kg Lean minced pork

A good tablespoon of salt (or more to your taste)

Half a tablepoon of ground cumin

A handful of chopped fresh mint

Juice of a lemon

Teaspoon or black pepper

1 Very finely chopped onion

2 or 3 Cloves of garlic, very finely chopped

A couple of handfuls of fine white breadcrumbs (fresh or manufactured)


Ok The fun bit: Roll up your sleeves and get in there mixing it together completely. It's great to get your hands on your food (clean them first) to feel the textures and get the aromas as you squeeze all of the ingredients into each other. It's also important as you are checking the texture of the meatballs. Too 'wet' and they will dissolve in the pan, too 'dry' and they will crack and fall apart when baked. You are after a moist but sticky consistency. Adjust by adding either a drop more lemon juice or some more breadcrumbs.

Before making up all the meatballs, make a small 'burger' and fry it up to check the seasoning is as you want it.

Then start to roll into balls a tad larger than a golf ball. When you have done this roll the ball between your hands to create a shortened, fat sausage shape. When you have done this heat some olive oil in a non-stick frying pan or skillet. roll the meatballs in a little flour and knock off excess then add to the oil and brown them. When they are browned, put them into a baking tray.


Time to put the oven on at 170 degrees celcius.

Now the sauce:

1 Onion chopped

Couple cloves of garlic, chopped

A handful of chopped flatleaf parsley

2 x 800g Tins chopped tomatoes

Eh..that's it. Apart from a pinch of salt and a glug or two of olive oil.

Slowly saute the onion & garlic in the oil until just translucent. Add the parsley, fry for a couple more minutes, then add the tomatoes. Simmer for about 15 minutes, adding a bit of water if its too dry.

Pour the sauce over the meatballs, cover with foil and chuck it in the oven for an hour.

Phew. Time for a glass of wine or a cold beer. This will make enough for quite a few portions. As its a bit of a clat, why not cook double and freeze some for future suppers?

Serve them with rice or roast some potato wedges with oregano in some olive oil in the oven. Mmmm. Now I'm hungry!

This recipe first appeared on 'The Paleochora Site'