Chops from Beech

Summary

Ingredients

• 200 g white bread or 4 - 5 rolls, stale
• 3 medium onion (s)
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 4 clove garlic
• 1 ½ kg minced beef, lean
• 4 egg (s)
• Marjoram, a few sprigs fresh or 3 teaspoons dried
• Salt and pepper, black
• Cayenne pepper
• 5 small tomato (s), firm
• 250 g mozzarella

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Instructions

1. Cut white bread into slices and soak in warm water for 5 minutes. Peel onions and dice very finely. Heat oil in a pan over medium heat and cook onions for 5 minutes until translucent. Peel and mince the garlic. Remove pan from heat.
2. Preheat oven to 200°C (400°F).
3. Squeeze out the bread very well and place in a large bowl. Add the onions (including any oil from the pan), minced beef, eggs, and minced garlic. If using fresh marjoram, wash it, shake dry, strip leaves from stems, and finely chop about 3 tablespoons; if using dried marjoram, add 3 teaspoons. Knead everything together until smooth.
4. Season the meat mixture with salt, black pepper, and cayenne pepper to taste. Press the mixture onto a baking sheet, spreading it evenly to the edges and smoothing the surface.
5. Bake the meat in the center of the oven at 200°C (400°F) for 20 minutes.
6. While the meat bakes, wash the tomatoes and pat dry. Slice them thinly, removing the cores. Slice the mozzarella thinly, cutting any large slices in half.
7. Remove the meat from the oven and increase oven temperature to 250°C (480°F). Press the meat flat with a spatula. Arrange tomato slices over the meat so each portion has one tomato slice.
8. Top each tomato slice with 2 to 3 marjoram leaves and season lightly with salt and pepper. Top each with a mozzarella slice. Bake for 10 minutes at 250°C (480°F) until the cheese melts.
9. Remove from oven, let cool for 2 to 3 minutes, cut into portions, and serve.
10. Optional variant: substitute minced lamb for minced beef and mild goat's cheese for mozzarella.