Meatballs with Apricots and Raisins
These meatballs are an adaptation of Meatballs à la Urpali from Rina Valero, Delights of Jerusalem, Nahar Publishing, 1985.
Urpa is an area of Turkey occupied by Kurds and Turks. The meatballs are slightly sweet, with a rich and thick tomato sauce. Serve them with a plain rice or pasta dish to soak up the
delicious sauce.
Ingredients
- 1 pound lean ground beef
- 1 egg
- 3 T. bread crumbs (or matzah meal for Passover)
- 1/2 tsp. pepper
- 1 onion, finely chopped
- 3 T. canola or olive oil
Gravy
- a small can (6 ounces) tomato paste
- 4 T. lemon juice
- 2 cups water
- 1 T. sugar
- pepper to taste
- 1 cup dried apricots
- 1/2 cup dark raisins
Combine the ground meat and egg, bread crumbs, and pepper. Mix this well, using a food processor if you
like a very fine texture for the meatballs. Form about 15 meatballs. Sauté the
onion in 3 T. oil. Add the meatballs, cover and steam about 5 minutes.
Combine all of the gravy ingredients. Add the gravy to the pan with the meatballs, and cook
for about 20 minutes.