Izmir Style Meatballs in Tomato Sauce (İzmir Köfte)

Turkish cuisine has so many meatball dishes that you could easily fill a multi-volume cookbook with them. Among all of them, İzmir köftesi, a specialty of the Aegean city of İzmir, holds a special place in my heart. Meatballs cooked with potatoes and peppers in tomato sauce, it's one of my all-time favorite comfort foods: the kofte goes tender in the sauce, the potatoes drink it up, and everything tastes a little better than the sum of its parts. İzmir kofte is traditionally a summer dish, made when tomatoes are at their peak and served with rice and yogurt on the side, accompanied by an icy glass of rakı, obviously. But these days we need comfort more than ever, so I've been making it almost weekly--tomatoes in season or not.

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For the meatballs

• 1/2 lb ground meat
• 2 slices of stale bread, soaked in water and squeezed tight, or 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 cup minced or finely chopped onion
• 1–2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 cup flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
• 1 egg (traditionally there's always an egg in the meatballs, both to hold them together and to keep them moist when baked; I don't like the smell of egg in meatballs, so I leave it out)
• Salt

For the rest

• About 10 peppers, seeded. In Turkey, green sweet chilies are the standard for this dish. If you like heat, any pepper works: jalapeño, wax, banana, Anaheim, or poblano. I like shishito and sweet Italian peppers here.
• 2 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into wedges
• 3 tbsp olive oil
• 3–4 medium tomatoes, grated or chopped in a food processor
• 1 tbsp tomato paste (optional)

Mix all the meatball ingredients and knead well for 5–7 minutes. Wet your hands and shape into 3–4 inch oval, finger-shaped meatballs — rounded in the middle and tapered at the ends.

Heat a pan and add 3 tbsp olive oil. Add the meatballs and cook just until they change color. You're not cooking them through, just sealing them.

Set the meatballs aside and keep the oil in the pan. (Some people fry the potatoes too, which is delicious but much greasier, so I skip it.)

Arrange the meatballs in a sun pattern in a wide oven-proof dish or cast iron pot, leaving 1/2 to 1 inch between them. If you're using a square or rectangular dish, line them up instead.

If you're using tomato paste, add it to the pan with the reserved oil and cook for 2 minutes. Add the grated tomatoes (or canned diced tomatoes or tomato sauce) and salt to taste. Cook until the juice has reduced, then add 1 1/2 cups boiling water. Bring to a boil and turn off the heat.

Tuck the potatoes between the meatballs and place the peppers on top, keeping the sun shape.

Pour the tomato sauce over everything. It should barely cover the meatballs and vegetables-if it doesn't, add a little more boiling water.

Bake on the middle rack at 380°F for 40–45 minutes, enough time for the potatoes to cook through.

Serve with rice or crusty bread and yogurt.

Bon appétit!