Chirpan-Style Meatballs
Meatballs named after the Thracian town of Chirpan — browned in a pan, then baked in a thick tomato and onion sauce with paprika and savory until the sauce clings and the kyufteta turn tender right through.
Ingredients
Ingredients
- 300 g minced pork
- 200 g minced beef
- 60 g stale white bread, crusts removed
- 1 small onion, finely grated
- 1 egg
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 2 tsp dried savory
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 0.5 tsp black pepper, ground
- 60 g plain flour
- 100 ml sunflower oil
- 2 medium onions, finely chopped, for the sauce
- 1 tbsp sweet paprika
- 400 g tomatoes, chopped (tinned or peeled fresh)
- 250 ml hot water or stock
- 0.5 bunch parsley, chopped
Nutrition (estimated)
high confidenceRecipe total: 2863 kcal · P 164.1g · C 135.8g · F 188.6g
Estimated from 16 of 16 ingredients
Approximate estimate, calculated from the ingredients.
Steps
Steps
- 1Soak the bread in cold water for 5 minutes, squeeze it out and crumble it into a bowl with both minces, the grated onion, egg, cumin, 1 tsp savory, 1 tsp salt and the pepper.
- 2Knead for 5 minutes until sticky and uniform, then chill for 30 minutes.
- 3With wet hands shape 14–16 small round kyufteta, roll them in flour and shake off the excess; keep back 1 tbsp flour for the sauce.
- 4Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat and brown the kyufteta for 2 minutes per side — they only need a crust now, as they finish cooking in the oven. Lift them into a baking dish in one layer.
- 5Heat the oven to 180°C. In the same oil, soften the chopped onions over medium heat for 8–10 minutes until translucent and golden at the edges.
- 6Take the pan off the heat and stir in the reserved flour and the paprika for 20 seconds — paprika scorches and turns bitter over a hot flame — then add the tomatoes.
- 7Return to the heat, pour in the hot water, add the remaining savory and 0.5 tsp salt, and simmer for 5 minutes until slightly thickened.
- 8Pour the sauce over the kyufteta so they are half covered, cover the dish with foil and bake for 25 minutes.
- 9Remove the foil and bake for 10–15 minutes more, until the sauce is thick and bubbling at the edges.
- 10Scatter with parsley and rest for 5 minutes before serving with bread or mashed potato.
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Questions and answers
How long does Chirpan-Style Meatballs take to make?
About 95 minutes: 45 min prep and 50 min cooking.
What ingredients do you need for Chirpan-Style Meatballs?
16 ingredients: minced pork, minced beef, stale white bread, onion, egg, ground cumin, dried savory, salt, black pepper, plain flour, sunflower oil, onions and 4 more.
How many servings does this Chirpan-Style Meatballs recipe make?
4 servings. The servings buttons above the ingredients rescale every amount.
How many calories are in a serving of Chirpan-Style Meatballs?
About 716 kcal, with 41 g protein, 33.9 g carbohydrate and 47.1 g fat. This is an estimate from the ingredients, not a lab analysis.
What cuisine is Chirpan-Style Meatballs?
Chirpan-Style Meatballs comes from Bulgarian cuisine.
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