Fish Balls in Tomato and Pepper Sauce

DH and I were visiting our daughter Batya and family on a Friday and our SIL Yechiel was, as is his wont, cooking up a storm. I sniffed the air and the scent was heavenly, redolent of garlic and onion and tomato and I asked him what that incredible smell was. Fish balls in sauce, he replied. Wanna try some? He immediately (without waiting for an answer) dished up a bowl for me which I shared with DH. They were outstandingly delicious and I decided I would make them for us. He immediately WhatsApped me the recipe and away I went. So just know that although this recipe is by heninthekitchen.com, (if you wish to see the original version (in Hebrew) scroll down to the asterisks) in my head, it’s Yechiel’s recipe. Just sayin’. I of course, fiddled around with the recipe, though he stayed true to the original.

Now my SIL likes things hot and spicy (Batya most emphatically does not) and me n DH don’t mind a hint of spicy, just not too hot, so you can adjust the heat to the level you enjoy. In any case, this made such a hit with us that we have decided it’s a new fave and that I will probably make these very often indeed. Since we are ever closer to Passover, I had this in mind as something a bit different to try for y’all out there, not just me. You simply switch out the breadcrumbs either with matzah meal or if you want it gluten free, with potato starch (amounts written below). Just so you know, the texture is similar to a meatball and it’s quite satisfying, not too light, not too heavy. During the year I’d serve this with couscous Fluffy Couscous or with Oven Baked Rice. For Passover this would be yum with mashed potatoes.

I include many a pic here, for simplicity of prep. If you don’t need the visual, just scroll down. So start with your ingredients:

A note. I will show you the sauce ingredients again (they are included in the pic above) but I find it helps not to forget anything if you stack them next to your cooking pot. I advise you to use a wide low-ish pot but if you don’t have one, you can manage with a higher one. I’d try for a 6 liter/quart pot so the sauce has enough room to burble. K. Now slice up your onion into a dice, and and pour the olive oil (yes you need the whole amount) into the pan and sautee till deep yellow – it’s okay if some of the edges are light brown but do not brown the onion. K.

then remove 3/4 of the onion to place in the food processor. The last 1/4 of the sauteed onion should be scooped out of the pot (let the oil stay in the pan) and put to the side. Since you need a cover for your pan for the sauce I simply placed it on the inside of the cover like so:

Start by making the batter for the fish balls before continuing with the sauce, since the fish balls need to sit in the fridge for 1/2 an hour to set up properly. So take your parsley

which you’ve cleaned and let dry a bit and just take off the woody stems. Take 3/4 of it and place in food processor. The other 1/4 chop up coarsely like so:

and set aside for the sauce for later.

Buzz the parsley and add the chopped garlic

chop fine

Add the fish which you have sliced up.

Place into processor with the spices (separate amounts for fish mixture and sauce). Chop the fish till fairly smooth.

Add the eggs and breadcrumbs/matzah meal or potato starch and blitz together in the processor. Add 3/4 of the sauteed onions. Buzz one more time till smooth and it should look like this:

Place mixture (I put the food processor top right in there) in fridge for 30 minutes. Cover it will paper towel or plastic wrap. On to the sauce.

K. Gonna show you the sauce ingredients lined up to hand.

The only thing missing is the boiling water and salt (oops) because I wanted the water boiling.

Now your pot has just the remaining oil from the sauteed onions, so add the additional olive oil for the sauce, do not skip it, cut the red pepper into julienne (cut in strips) and add to the oil.

The peppers cover the oil but it’s there, trust me. K. Sautee them, stirring about for about 4 minutes or so (you aren’t trying to brown them, just to lightly sautee) and toss in your coarsely chopped garlic.

Briskly stir about for about a minute and now you will add the spices which you’ve placed near the pan to be ready to roll.

Stir them into the peppers and garlic and gently toss and cook about a minute, make sure not to burn them. The fragrance is astonishing. Onward!

Okey dokey, Add the tomato paste and sauteed onion and pour in the boiling water, you start with 4 cups and may need an additional cup later on. Stir all together well and simmer covered on a tilt for about 25 minutes. The sauce will reduce somewhat. That’s why you make the fish mixture first, this way they are ready together.

Remove the fish mixture from the fridge when sauce is ready. Now if you have a cookie scoop, great, it saves work, if not just roll mixture into balls like you would for meatballs and drop right in to gently simmering sauce in the pan.

Add all the fish mixture till you’re done and check that the liquid is at least 3/4 of the way up the pan.

Add the lemon juice. Cook covered with lid on a tilt and about 5 minutes before done add the parsley (remember the chopped parsley you put aside? Now’s the time).

Okay. This is the best part. You can serve this right away (DH couldn’t wait and had some) or it will sit patiently in the fridge for a coupla days and the flavors marry and taste even better. You can freeze them but the texture might change somewhat, there was none left to test it!! These are ridiculously delicious, we happily gobbled them down.

Fish Balls in Tomato and Pepper Sauce

For the fish

2.2 pounds (1 kilo) fish – I used half a kilo of tilapia and half a kilo of nile perch fish I ground it myself in the food processor (see below) but you can have a fish guy grind it for you and save that step if you wish. A note, you can use other firm fleshed white fish mix if you choose
2 medium onions peeled and chopped
3 tablespoons olive oil
5-6 cloves garlic chopped
Pinch of chili powder
A nice bunch of parsley, cleaned, 3/4 for the fish mix and 1/4 for the sauce
3/4-1 cup breadcrumbs or 3/4 cup matzo meal or 1/2 cup potato starch
1 teaspoon cumin (can be omitted for Passover)
2 teaspoon turmeric
Pinch of black pepper
2 flat teaspoon salt
4 teaspoons paprika
2 eggs

For the sauce:

3 red peppers, julienned (sliced into strips)
1/3 cup olive oil
5-6 cloves garlic sliced
2 tablespoons sweet paprika
1 tablespoon turmeric
1/2 teaspoon cumin (can be omitted for Passover)
Pinch of chili powder
2 tablespoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 teaspoon salt
200 grams tomato paste
1/4 of the sautéed onion from above
4 cups water, with potentially an additional cup of water
2 -3 tablespoons lemon juice or juice of one medium lemon
small amount of parsley chopped coarsely

Directions:

For the fish balls:
Sauté the onion in the 3 tablespoon of oil till deep yellow, can have a hint of light brown but do not brown the onions. Cool and set aside. Place the parsley into food processor and buzz, add garlic and whizz till well chopped. Add the cut up fish and process with the spices till mostly smooth. Add the egg and breadcrumbs or matzah meal or potato starch and 3/4 of the sauteed onions and process till smooth. Cover and refrigerate for 1/2 an hour.

For the sauce:
Sauté the red peppers in the same pan as the sauteed the onions, scooping out the 1/4 remaining onions and putting aside, and adding the 1/3 cup of oil, for 3-4 minutes and add the chopped garlic and sauté for a minute, do not let it brown or it gets bitter. Add the paprika, turmeric, cumin, sugar, black pepper, salt, chili powder and cook a minute, it will be very fragrant. Add the tomato paste and water and stir well together. Bring to a simmer. Cook 25 minutes or so, sauce should reduce slightly. Remove the fish mixture from fridge and form balls and gently drop into the simmering sauce and add the lemon juice. The sauce should come 3/4 of the way up the fish balls. Add water if necessary. Cook with a tilted lid on the pot for 20 additional minutes. Add the remaining chopped parsley and cook 5 minutes more.
Serve in bowls with the sauce.

**https://heninthekitchen.com/blog/2019/02/27/%d7%a4%d7%a8%d7%a7-96-%d7%a7%d7%a6%d7%99%d7%a6%d7%95%d7%aa-%d7%93%d7%92%d7%99%d7%9d