Andalusian Meatballs, Feta Stuffed Tomatoes, Flammkuchen

Can you believe it is that time again? It feels like we have only just finished wiping our mouths from the previous weeks feast, when along comes the next Tapas Friday! Panic usually sets in when I realise that I have left it almost too late - tomorrow never comes they say - to plan. But like everything else it always works out, maybe we do just work better under pressure! And with new dishes and a new blog style, we roll into this weeks Tapas Friday for more fun, frying, food and eh... Flammkuchen. Bon Ap!



For this very simple dish, I washed few small vine tomatoes, cut each top off and carefully scooped the insides with a tea spoon. Sprinkled with some olive oil and left aside, while I prepared the Feta cheese filling. Again, very simple, mashed Feta with some fresh thyme, chives, olive oil and roast garlic (squeezed out of the skin), and seasoned slightly, depending on how salty your Feta is. Then stuff the tomatoes with Feta filling, sprinkle some more olive oil and put them into the fridge for couple of hours. To garnish just use whatever fresh herbs available, basil does a great job here:)

Super-refreshing little side to any meat/BBQ dishes!




I love meatballs. Always have. But kinda always did them in a same way, using fresh chili to bring in more diversion. Last week, sitting in front the telly, and drooling while watching a Jamie show, I got somehow inspired to try a lil' different version of the regular meatballs: meatballs Andalusian style!

This was my lucky weekend, as I found some beef mince leftovers in our freezer, which, of course, helped me a lot to maintain the budget :) I combined the mince with fresh chopped coriander, 2-3 garlic cloves, chili powder, one egg and some more happy leftovers of breadcrumbs, seasoned my mince mix and formed small meatballs. I heated up a pan, added some oil, and fried my meatballs for 5-10 mins, stirring constantly, to give them a nice colour. Take out of the pan, leaving the oil and juices, drain on kitchen paper and set aside.

Now it's time for the tomato sauce, in fact, the most beautiful one you've ever done. I added one chopped onion and more garlic into the previously used, still hot pan, fried them up, watching the garlic, so it doesn't get burnt. Then de-glaze with a good amount of Sherry (medium dry, in my case) and let it simmer for a moment. Add 2 stalks of finely chopped celery, and finally stir in a can of peeled tomatoes. I also had the tops and insides if my stuffed tomatoes left, so I added them too, nothing wrong with some fresh tomatoes ;). Seasoned slightly, and let it simmer on low heat until the sauce reduces down by half.

Finally add the meatballs and sprinkle with each handful chopped green olives, chopped almonds and raisins (dependent on the budged, I used ready stuffed olives with almonds). The beautiful, naturally sweet tomato sauce makes best friends with the spicy balls of meat. Olé!




This is one of my favourites, reminding me closely of a region I used to live, where France meets Germany, on a doorstep to Lorraine and Alsace. Seasonal around the end of summer, this onion tart traditionally comes along with 'Federweisser', a very young, still fizzy and yeasty wine (where the fermentation process has just begun), often sold by the vineyards on the side the road, when you are driving through the country. I order Flammkuchen every time I am in Germany, just to test the different ways it is prepared, mostly as a flat pizza-style version.

However, the this time I wanted to reconstruct the onion tart, which comes closer to a cake in its consistency and volume.

I started with the dough, mixing 600 g of flour with one packet of dried active east, dissolved in half a cup of luke-warm milk. Added the other half of milk, same amount of water (1 cup), one egg, teaspoon each of salt and sugar, and 75 g melted butter (feel free to use oil if you like). Now it comes to working with the dough, so knead until you feel your arms are toned like those of M. Obama, and your dough is nice & smooth. Form a ball, cover it slightly in oil and leave in a warm place for 30 min - 1 hour, until it doubles its size. Meanwhile, cut streaky bacon into strips and fry it in a hot pan plus little oil for 5 mins, then remove. Chop 4,5-6 onions and fry them up in the same pan with a handful of caraway seeds, but don't not allow them to turn golden. Remove and set aside. Next, combine Creme Fraiche (I also added few spoons light sour cream) with 4-6 tablespoons of vegetable oil, some salt, pepper and freshly ground nutmeg.

When the dough reaches its double size, punch a hole in the middle with your fist and watch it collapse. Take out and give it another sweaty workout, then place on slightly floured surface and roll out, or what I did, take it in your hands and pull apart, while constantly turning, so you get a kinda rectangular shape similar to your baking tray. Place on buttered tray and stretch the edges apart. Place the onions first, then your bacon strips and cover everything with the Creme Fraiche mix. Pinch of salt and pepper, some fresh thyme on top, and then it goes into preheated oven (180 degrees) for 20 mins, until it turns golden.



Shopping List:
Dried Yeast €2.60
Creme Fraiche €1.14
Tin Tomatoes €0.39
All veggies & herbs € 3.98
Feta Cheese €1.79
Streaky Bacon €1.49
Stuffed Olives €1.29
Caraway Seeds €0.70
.........................................................
Total €13.44

Drinks
La Croisade, Réserve Chardonnay, 2009, 13%
Hoya De Cadenas, Reserva Privada, 2005, 12.5%

On the stereo
Spex #89 Album, Billie Holiday