Roasted Potatoes with Hearty Meat Sauce

Recipe:

Ingredient Notes:

• Potatoes. It is best to use the same potatoes that are good for mashed potatoes, such as Yukon Gold. It will also be soft and fluffy when roasted. The weight of an average potato is about 100-120 grams.
• Ground meat. In this recipe I use mixed ground meat – pork and beef in half. But you can just as easily make the sauce with pure ground beef or pure ground pork. A poultry option is also possible, but you must use dark chicken or turkey meat (i.e., from the legs), not breast fillet.
• Tomatoes. Here you need canned tomatoes. They only contain tomatoes, tomato juice and citric acid as a preservative. Salt may also be added. It does not matter if these tomatoes are whole or chopped – you will need to crush them either way.
  If you don’t have canned tomatoes, you can puree 350 grams of fresh tomatoes and add 50 grams of tomato paste for a more intense tomato flavor.
• Onions. Regular yellow onions are good for the sauce, but you can substitute other types – red, white or shallots.
• Garlic. Fresh garlic is the best choice. However, if necessary, you can use dry granulated garlic. 1/2 teaspoon is enough in this case.
• Zucchini. You can use any kind of zucchini – green, yellow, Lebanese, Zephyr and others. Depending on the situation, you can replace zucchini with mushrooms – this will also be delicious.
• Sour cream. When serving, I recommend using sour cream for freshness. Fat content – according to taste. Alternatively, you can serve these potatoes with Greek yogurt or labneh. Or skip the dairy altogether.

Let’s start cooking.

Wash potatoes thoroughly with a brush. Pierce them with a toothpick in several places and rub them with salt and vegetable oil.

Wrap each potato in aluminum foil and place on a baking sheet.

Place in an oven preheated to 220°C (430°F) and roast until done, for about an hour. To check, pierce the potatoes with a wooden skewer – it should go easily into the potato.

Make the sauce. Finely chop the onion and garlic, and dice the zucchini.

Heat 1-2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add onion and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly.

Add the garlic, herbs and zucchini and cook, stirring, for another 3 minutes.

Add ground beef and cook, stirring and breaking up any lumps with a spatula, until all the ground beef has lost its pink color.

Add the tomato paste and crushed tomatoes with their juice, salt and sugar to taste, stir and simmer uncovered over medium low heat for about 10 minutes.

Unwrap the potatoes and remove the foil. Slice the potatoes along the bulb and open them by squeezing them with your fingers. Salt the inside. Place on a plate and pour the sauce into the cuts. If desired, add sour cream.

Serve.

Enjoy!

This Roasted Potatoes with Hearty Meat Sauce recipe was checked, prepared and approved by Chef Tatyana Nazaruk - author of FlavorIt.com.
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