Meatballs baked with Brussels sprouts

Instructions

• 1
  Start preheating the oven to 200 degrees Celsius. Clean the Brussels sprouts by removing any unsightly outer leaves, but otherwise leave them whole, do not halve them.
• 2
  Mix the meat with the egg, breadcrumbs, and very finely chopped bacon. Salt as needed; some ground meats are already sold salted and can easily be over-salted during preparation at home. Finally, work in 50 ml of very cold water and mix briefly. (Note: if you are unsure about the correct seasoning of the meat, make a small ball or patty and fry it in a pan or cook it in the microwave at half power. Only then can you taste the cooked ground meat and adjust the flavor based on this test.)
• 3
  Grease a baking dish with oil. With wet hands, form the meat mixture into balls the size of ping-pong balls and arrange them in the baking dish (with small gaps). Add the Brussels sprouts to the remaining empty space and brush everything with oil.
• 4
  Place in the preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes until the meatballs are golden brown and cooked through. Stir once or twice as needed during baking. Serve with mashed potatoes or smashed or boiled potatoes drizzled with butter.