Russian Meatballs, or "Tifteli"

I love this recipe. It's hearty, goes with a variety of sides, is easy to make and plus it stores in the freezer very well. I usually double the recipe below, and freeze half of it for a later time. 

Yield: ~20 meatballs (if ~2" in diameter)

Ingredients:

-1 pound ground turkey (original recipe calls for ground beef)

-.5 cup rice

-1 egg

-1 onion, finely chopped

-salt to taste

-1 tsp pepper

-1/4-1 teaspoon red pepper or paprika

-1/2 cup flour for tossing meatballs

-sunflower or canola oil (for high heat frying -- canola is usually cheaper)

For the sauce:

-1 Tbsp flour

-1 cup water

-1/2 cup sour cream (or plain yogurt, you'll never know the difference)

-1/2 Tbsp tomato paste

-salt and pepper to taste

1. Cook rice, make sure to salt water when cooking

2. Rinse cooked rice through cold water, until it cools down

3. Mix: meat, rice, egg, onion, salt, black pepper and paprika (or red pepper). Add as much black pepper and paprika as you want, I usually end up doing 1.5 tsp of paprika and pepper.

4. Form meatballs - form as small or as big as you like, but make sure to keep them all the same size.

5. Toss meatballs in flour, making sure to coat all sides.

6. Heat up oil in a nonstick pan on high heat.

7. Fry all meatballs until golden brown, making sure to get all the sides. This is the hardest part of this recipe - they can break apart very easily. I recommend you use a wooden spoon to turn them at first, and then use some chop sticks at the end.

If you're planning on freezing the meatballs, cool them after step 7, wrap in foil and store in a Ziploc bag in the freezer.

8. Sauce: Brown the flour -  heat up a nonstick pot and place the flour in the pot once it's hot.  Move the flour around with a wooden spoon so as not to burn it. Once it's light brown, pour in the water and mix to get rid of any clumps. 

9. Add in the sour cream (or yogurt if you're using it) and mix well, until all the clumps are out.

10. Mix in the tomato paste. Salt and pepper to taste. 

11. Add in the meatballs into the pot with sauce. Cover and let simmer on low for 20-30 minutes.

Happy cooking :)