Romanian meatballs in tomato sauce

Ingredients

• 600-700 g pork shoulder
• 3 medium onions (450 g)
• 4 garlic cloves
• 7 tablespoons oil
• 1 egg
• 2 slices bread (60 g)
• 100 ml milk
• 7 g dill
• 100 g flour
• 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
• 3/4 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1 medium red bell pepper (180 g)
• 3 medium tomatoes (450 g)
• 1 teaspoon sweet paprika
• 1 teaspoon dried marjoram
• 10 g chives

Preparation

1. Pat the pork dry with paper towels, remove the membranes and cut the meat into cubes. Grind it. 2. Finely chop 1 onion and 2 garlic cloves. Sauté them for 5 minutes in a pan with 1 tablespoon of oil, until softened, then leave them to cool for 10 minutes. 3. Soak the bread in milk for 5 minutes and squeeze it well. Mix the ground pork with the cooled onion and garlic, the egg, 1 teaspoon of salt, 1/2 teaspoon of pepper and the dill. Shape into meatballs about 3 cm across and roll them in flour. 4. Heat 4 tablespoons of oil in a frying pan and fry the meatballs for about 20 minutes, turning them until browned and cooked through. Transfer them to paper towels. 5. Roast the pepper for 15 minutes at 230°C, turning it halfway through, until the skin is blackened in places. Score the tomatoes, remove the cores and blanch them for 1 minute in boiling water, then put them in ice water for 2 minutes. Peel the tomatoes and pepper, then dice them. 6. Finely chop the remaining 2 onions and 2 garlic cloves. In the same pan, after removing any remaining oil, heat 2 tablespoons of oil and sauté them for 5 minutes, until softened. Add the tomatoes, pepper, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 teaspoon of pepper, the paprika and marjoram. Cook for 12 minutes, until the tomatoes soften. 7. Blend the sauce, return it to the pan and add the meatballs. Simmer them in the sauce for 10 minutes over low heat. Sprinkle with chopped chives.