Author Notes
After spending a vacation in Santorini and discovering their claim-to-fame "tomatokeftedes," I knew I had to recreate these delicious tomato balls on my blog for my readers (and for myself!) Giving them a healthier twist, I used all fresh ingredients, baked instead of fried in oil, and substituted white flour for whole wheat flour. Since tomatokeftedes are typically served with a yogurt cucumber dill dip called tzatziki sauce, I created my own version as a pasta sauce and placed the tomatokeftedes on top of a bed of tzatziki zucchini pasta. Healthy, Greek, and uniquely flavorful! —Inspiralized
Ingredients
- Tzatziki Sauce
-
.5
whole cucumber
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1/3 cup
0% plain Greek yogurt
-
1
clove of garlic, minced
-
.5 tablespoons
extra virgin olive oil
-
.5 tablespoons
fresh dill, chopped
-
1 teaspoon
lemon juice
-
3
cranks of a sea salt grinder
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2
cranks of a peppercorn grinder
- Tomatokeftedes (Tomato Balls) & Zucchini Pasta
-
1.5
zucchinis, spiralized into spaghetti
-
1 cup
baby vine tomatoes, seeds removed and chopped
-
3.5 tablespoons
spring onion, diced
-
1 tablespoon
warm water
-
1 tablespoon
mint, chopped
-
1
pinch of oregano
-
.25 cups
whole wheat flour
-
.25 cups
Pecorino Romano cheese
-
.25 teaspoons
salt
-
.25 teaspoons
pepper
Directions
-
Preheat oven to 405 degrees.
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Take the cucumber and peel it. With a teaspoon, scrape out the seeds in the inside of the cucumber and discard.
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Time to prepare the tzatziki sauce. Loosely chop the cucumber and put it into a food processor. Pulse until big chunks are gone. If you don’t have a food processor, finely chop the cucumber. When done, place into a bowl with the rest of the ingredients for the sauce (Greek yogurt, garlic, olive oil, red wine vinegar, dill, lemon juice, salt, pepper). Place in the refrigerator.
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Next, prepare the tomato ball mixture. In a large bowl, place in all of the ingredients and mix together with hands until the mixture is thick and sticky enough to create about 2 large tomato balls. If needed, add more flour and water. Form the tomato balls with your hands.
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Spray a baking sheet with cooking spray and place on the tomato balls. Bake in the oven for 10 minutes, flip over and bake for another 10-15 minutes or until tomato balls are browned on the outside and don’t easily fall apart with poked with a fork. When done, take out of the oven and set aside.
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Pour the tzatziki sauce over the zucchini pasta and mix thoroughly to combine. Place in a bowl. Top with tomato balls and enjoy your Grecian meal!
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