Pie Gratin With Meatballs And Mashed Potatoes

This dish is a gastronomic bomb that will satisfy the hunger of the most gluttonous. The gratin cake with meatballs and mashed potatoes, besides being an inexpensive meal, is simple to prepare and yields a lot.

The ingredients are basically two: ground beef or lamb, and potatoes. To this we add a variety of condiments, cheeses, we take it to the oven and the result is incredible.

The gratin cake is a variation on lasagna. But where the pasta is wisely replaced by the puree. It is a dish that, due to its high caloric content, tends to be eaten much more in winter. It is recommended to consume at lunch hours.

Ingredients to prepare this gratin cake:

• 1 kg of ground beef
• Eight medium potatoes
• Four large tomatoes
• One onion
• Two cloves of garlic
• A red pepper
• ¼ cup of red wine
• Three tablespoons of butter
• Three tablespoons of extra olive oil
• A bay leaf
• One teaspoon of oregano powder
• Salt
• Pepper

• 250 g of grated gouda cheese
• 150 g of Parmesan or Pecorino cheese for gratin.

Utensils:

• A 12 x 8 inch baking tray
• A medium pot
• A frying pan
• A wooden spoon
• A grater
• A chef’s knife (10 ‘)

preparation:

• If you have purchased the meat without grinding, clean it, remove the fat, cut it into small cubes and process it in the electric grinder.
• Season the meat (to taste) with salt, pepper, garlic powder and a touch of Worcestershire sauce and set aside.
• Take the potatoes, remove the skin, cut them into irregular cubes. Add them to a pot with plenty of boiling water and let them soften. This process takes approximately 30 minutes.
• While you wait for the potatoes to be ready, place the tomatoes in a pot with a little water so that they sweat and it is easier to remove the skin.

• Remove the tomatoes from the heat, remove the skin and cut into medium pieces.
• In the same pot where the tomatoes used to be, place the three tablespoons of olive oil, sauté the garlic along with the onion and pepper cut into small cubes.
• Now add the tomato, and with the help of a potato masher, make a puree with them. Add some tomato paste, meat broth, red wine, seasonings to taste and cook over low heat.
• In the pan, place a little olive oil, make small meatballs, 3-centimeter spheres and seal them a little until they change color.
• Add the meatballs to the tomato sauce, let it continue to thicken this preparation.
• Prepare the oven at 180 ºC and the baking tray with a little butter and flour, to prevent the cake from sticking.
• Now, it was time to remove the potatoes from the heat, strain them and in a large container, mash them with the help of a potato masher. Add salt and pepper to taste, and the three tablespoons of butter. Mix everything very well.
• Add the grated yellow cheese to the puree.

• Remove the meatballs from the heat.
• It is time to assemble the dish. Place in the baking dish a layer of mashed potatoes and on top of this layer, add the meatballs with plenty of sauce, put back a compact layer of mashed potatoes.
• If there are enough ingredients left, make another layer.
• Sprinkle parmesan cheese and gouda over the cake and bake in the oven for 15 minutes.
• Remove from the oven and let it rest for about 30 minutes before serving.
• Accompany this dish with a rich and light green salad and a glass of red wine. It is a simple dish, but very tasty.

Data of interest:

• For a much more flavorful cake,  mix beef with pork.
• Adding a layer of Parmesan cheese to the bottom of the container before the puree will make it easier to create a crust or crunchy layer that will help keep the cake firm.

• You could engineer and make the dish a bit more complex by adding mushrooms, vegetables or white creams such as béchamel.
• Placing the meat without shaping it into meatballs is also an option.
• The individual presentation of this dish is very nice, less rustic. Serving it in small ceramic or clay containers gives a delicate touch.
• This meatball and mashed potato gratin cake goes very well with a vegetable cream or onion soup as a starter. For dessert, a tiramisu or something lighter like yogurt and fruit flan.

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