Yuvarlak Greek Meatballs Recipe: A Traditional Turkish Delight with Avgolemono Sauce

Yuvarlak, also known as yuvarlak köfte or youvarlakia, are large meatballs in a savoury sauce. This dish is popular in Turkish and Greek cuisine. The name "yuvarlak" means round in Turkish. These meatballs are made with ground beef and rice or bulgur. They are cooked in moist heat, and the sauce is thickened with avgolemono, a mixture of egg and lemon juice.

• 1 kg (2.2 lbs) ground beef
• 2 cups rice (short-grained, suitable for soup)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 large onion, diced
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 4 tablespoons butter or margarine or 6 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 lemon, juiced
• Pepper to taste
• All-purpose flour

• Large pot
• Bowl for mixing
• Whisk

Procedure

1. Combine the ground beef with one egg, one cup of rice, salt, and pepper.
2. Mix thoroughly and form into meatballs the size of a ping-pong ball (4 cm).
3. Cover each ball in a layer of white flour.
4. Sauté the diced onion in butter, margarine, or oil in a large pot. Add two litres of water and bring to a boil.
5. Drop each meatball into the boiling water.
6. After 30 minutes, add the second cup of rice directly to the soup. Boil for another 15 minutes and remove from heat.
7. In a large bowl, beat one egg white with a little water into a foam. Add lemon juice to stabilise the foam. Whisk in the egg yolk.
8. Slowly pour one cup of hot soup into the avgolemono while whisking continuously. Then pour this mixture back into the pot and mix well.
9. Serve hot.

Nutritional Values