Egg-Stuffed Meatballs aka Keftedes Gemistes Me Avgo

I remember when we were younger, I would want nothing more than a hamburger from Burger King or McDonald's, but that's not how we grew up. We rarely got fast food; we didn't even have store-bought frozen burgers in our household. If we wanted hamburgers, we got a pan fried meat patty with onions bulging out, slapped between two pieces of wonder bread with ketchup and mustard! In Greek, we call these Keftedes and they're perfectly seasoned and seriously delicious! I'm not even mad that my parent's didn't cave into fast food all the time, because it made me love and appreciate the taste of authentic home cooking.

The wonderful thing about Keftedes is that they're versatile, and you can sculpt them into whatever you think of. Hamburgers, meatloaf, meatballs, meat on a stick...whatever you want!! It's all the same recipe and can be altered any which way you'd like. 

My personal favorite is my Mama's Mystery Meatloaf. I couldn't wrap my head around how they got hard boiled eggs into the loaf (I didn't use my Greek brain back then)!!! My only complaint about Mama's meatloaf was that it was too much meat, and not enough egg. If I got a sliver with a small slice of egg, I wanted another piece cut just for more egg. I always...wanted...the egg!!! Fast forward to my adult life where creativity and recipes flow, and my egg-stuffed Keftedes were born! 

These babies are the perfect portion of meat and egg, AND I've made them carb-free. Enjoy with a salad of your choice and you've got a healthy, protein packed meal:

Yields 6 Servings:

Meat Mixture:

1 pound of organic, lean ground beef (or meat of your choice)

1 Onion, finely chopped

2 Garlic Gloves, finely minced

1/2 cup of fresh parsley, finely chopped

1 large egg

1/4 cup of almond meal (replaces bread crumbs)

Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder, Ground Mustard to taste

Optional: Crumbled Feta Cheese

1. Place 6 eggs to boil 
2. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
3. Place the meat mixture ingredients in a large bowl and knead until well combined
4. Clean the shell off of the boiled eggs and place to the side
5. Form palm-sized patties with your hands, flatten, and place one egg in the middle and wrap the meat around the egg (if you need to loosen the meat for more expansion over the egg, run your hands under warm water and repeat)
6. Lightly oil a baking dish and bake for approx. 45 minutes; make sure to flip them around 20 minutes. 

Kali Orexi!
Sophia Eleni