Sinterklaas' Balls

Ingredients

• 500 g ground beef
• 75 g crushed pepernoten
• 75 g chopped onion
• 1 garlic clove, pressed
• 1 egg
• a splash of milk
• 2 tbsp tomato paste
• 2 meat stock cubes
• a few drops of tabasco
• butter
• pepper & salt

Instructions

1. 1

   1. Finely chop the onion, heat some butter in the frying pan, and sauté the onion and garlic until the onion is translucent. Let cool slightly.2. Crush the pepernoten (for example in a tea towel with a rolling pin) until they form crumbs.3. In a bowl, mix the minced beef, 1 tbsp tomato paste, an egg, a splash of milk, 1 crumbled stock cube, tabasco to taste, the onion and garlic, and 3/4 of the crushed pepernoten. Make sure everything is well combined and season with pepper and salt.4. Shape the meat into balls (we made 5, but you can make 4 large ones or 6 smaller ones) and brown them in some butter. Make sure the balls are browned all over. Then add the second tablespoon of tomato paste to the pan, along with 1 stock cube and the remaining pepernoten crumbs. Add enough water until the balls are halfway submerged and then let simmer for 30 minutes over low heat. Taste the gravy and season with pepper and salt. The balls are delicious with stamppot, but they're also great on bread the next day. Enjoy!