Potato, Meat & Pea Balls

 
Ball shaped food never fails to perk the interest of any child.  Since I have two at home, my food balls are always welcomed with bursts of little squeaks of anticipation wondering what I put in them.  Little do they know that they are just the boring old ingredients that they sometimes refuse.  My five-year old sometimes segregates the food in his plate, "to eat" side and "not to eat" side.  With everything mashed and mixed together in the ball, he would be needing a magnifying glass to go through his little stint of taking away what he deems unpalatable. 

These balls are simple and dependably good.  I roasted them in the oven instead of deep frying them. Sure, they should be tastier and have more moisture but as much as I can, I try to evade frying because it can get heavy on the kids' digestion. A tad less sumptuous but nonetheless still delicious.

I covered some with sesame seeds and some with breadcrumbs. The tastes are almost identical so it doesn't matter what you cover them with. I served them drizzled with soy sauce mixed with lemon. Serve as appetizer, main dish or a surprise for the little ones. 

Potato, Meat & Pea Balls 

Ingredients:
Makes about 20 balls

• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and quartered
• 50 grams ground veal (can be substituted with any kind of meat)
• 50 grams ground pork
• 1/2 cup peas
• 1 egg
• 1/2 cup breadcrumbs + extra for covering the balls
• 4 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2 scallion or 1/4 onion, finely chopped
• a handful of fresh chives, chopped finely
• extra virgin olive oil
• sesame seeds
• salt 
• pepper 

Directions:

1. Over high heat, boil some water in a pot. When the water boils, add some salt then drop the potatoes. Cook for about 20 minutes or until they are tender. Drain, mash then set aside.
2. Over medium heat, in a saucepan with extra virgin olive oil, sautè the scallion. the scallion is cooked through, add the meat.  
3. When the meat changes color, add the peas.  Season with soy sauce, salt & pepper.  Cook for 5 minutes.  
4. In a large bowl, mix the mashed potatoes, sautèed meat, breadcrumbs & chives.  Mix in egg.  
5. Shape into balls.  Roll them on a plate with sesame seeds or breadcrumbs.
6. Put a sheet of wax paper on a baking pan.  Put the balls on the baking pan.  Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil.   
7. Bake at 200 degrees Celsius for 20 minutes.