Meatballs with potatoes and tomato sauce is our go-to lunch when time is short but we still want a proper meal. Everything cooks at the same time: sauce in the mixing bowl, potatoes in the simmering basket, meatballs in the Varoma above.
We use the 25-minute cooking time to get on with other things. The Thermomix® needs no attention. Nothing burns, nothing boils over. The time saving comes from parallel cooking: while steam cooks the meatballs, the tomato sauce simmers beneath the potatoes. One appliance, three components, ready at the same time.
Meatballs with Potatoes and Tomato Sauce, Thermomix®
Ingredients 0 / 18 ✓
- 1 bread roll from the day before
- 200 g water
- 50 g Gouda
- 2 onions
- 500 g minced meat
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 1 tsp sweet paprika
- 1 egg
- etwas oil for greasing
- 10 g oil
- 800 g potatoes
- 800 g tinned chopped tomatoes
- 1 tsp instant stock
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp pepper
- 1 tbsp dried Italian herbs
- 1 pinch cayenne pepper
Instructions 0 / 7
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1
Soak the bread roll.
Soak the bread roll in a bowl with the water. Place the Gouda in pieces in the mixing bowl, grate for 8 sec / speed 6 and set aside.
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2
Chop the onions.
Peel the onions, halve them, place in the mixing bowl, chop for 5 sec / speed 6 and set half of them aside.
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3
Mix the mince mixture.
Place the minced meat, salt, pepper, paprika, egg, Gouda and the squeezed-out bread roll in the mixing bowl and mix for 10 sec / reverse direction / speed 4.
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4
Shape the meatballs.
Grease the Varoma dish and tray insert with oil, shape the mince mixture into small meatballs and distribute them evenly inside.
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5
Sweat the vegetables.
Place the reserved onions with the oil in the mixing bowl and sweat for 5 min / Varoma / speed 1.
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6
Cook the potatoes.
Meanwhile, peel the potatoes, cut them into bite-sized pieces and place in the simmering basket. Add the tomatoes with the stock, salt, pepper, herbs and cayenne pepper to the mixing bowl, hang in the simmering basket, place the Varoma on top and cook for 25 min / Varoma / speed 1.
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7
Serve.
Serve the meatballs with the potatoes and tomato sauce.
Nutrition per serving
Day-old bread roll as a binder
We use a stale bread roll instead of breadcrumbs. The soaked roll absorbs moisture from the mince and keeps the meatballs juicy. Fresh breadcrumbs bind less well and the mixture stays too loose. Soak the roll in water, let it absorb fully, then squeeze it out firmly. Too much water makes the mixture soggy; too little makes it dry.
Gouda in the mixture holds the shape
The grated Gouda in the mince mixture is not there for flavour but as a stabiliser. During steaming in the Varoma, the cheese melts slightly and binds the mixture from the inside. Without Gouda the meatballs fall apart when shaping or during cooking. The egg alone is not enough. We grate the cheese at speed 6 for 8 seconds so it is fine enough to distribute evenly.
Reverse direction prevents a mushy texture
When mixing the mince mixture we use reverse direction at speed 4. Normal direction would over-work the mixture and make it tough. Reverse direction stirs gently and keeps the texture loose. Ten seconds is exactly right: the bread roll, Gouda and egg distribute evenly while the mince stays fibrous. Mixing for longer makes the meatballs hard.
Greasing the Varoma is essential
Grease the Varoma dish and the tray insert with oil before placing the meatballs in. Without oil they stick. After cooking you can only remove them by force and they will fall apart. A thin film of oil is enough. Space the meatballs out evenly, with a little gap between them. If they touch, they fuse together during cooking.
Splitting the onions for texture
We chop both onions at speed 6 for 5 seconds but only add half to the tomato sauce. The other half goes into the meatballs. The onions for the sauce sweat for 5 minutes at Varoma temperature in 10 g of oil before the tomatoes go in. Sweating gives the sauce sweetness and takes the edge off the sharpness. The onions in the meatballs stay raw in the mixture and cook through later during steaming.
Cut the potatoes into bite-sized pieces
The potato pieces need to be small enough to cook through in 25 minutes. We cut them into roughly 3 cm cubes. Larger pieces will still be hard in the middle after 25 minutes. The potatoes go in the simmering basket, not directly into the sauce. They cook in steam, not in water. This keeps them firmer and stops them falling apart.
25 minutes, Varoma, speed 1
The 25 minutes at Varoma temperature and speed 1 is the key threshold. Less time and the potatoes are not cooked through and the meatballs are still pink inside. More time and the tomato sauce becomes too thick and the potatoes fall apart. Speed 1 stirs the sauce gently without shaking the potatoes in the simmering basket. The meatballs in the Varoma sit still while the rising steam cooks them evenly from all sides.
Getting the cayenne pepper right
One pinch of cayenne pepper is enough. More makes the sauce hot rather than well-seasoned. The cayenne pepper is not there for flavour; it just provides a gentle background heat. The Italian herbs provide the aroma, and the cayenne lifts them. If you are making the sauce for children, leave the cayenne out. The sauce stays well-seasoned from the instant stock and the herbs.
Leftovers the next day
Goes well with: cucumber salad and baguette.
The meatballs with potatoes and tomato sauce keep in the fridge for 2 days. Store in a sealed container, otherwise the meatballs dry out. To reheat, place a portion in a deep plate, cover and microwave for 3 minutes at 600 W. The tomato sauce becomes thinner again on reheating and the potatoes stay firm. Freezing works too: the sauce will be slightly more watery after thawing but the meatballs keep their shape. Leave to cool completely before freezing, then freeze in portion-sized bags. Keeps for up to 3 months.
More all-in-one dishes with the Thermomix®: Spaghetti Carbonara, Goulash Soup, Vegetable Plate with Rice, Wild Salmon Fillet with Dill Mustard Sauce and One-Pot Pasta.
