Friday, February 25, 2011

Savory Meatballs


Last week I attended a fun "Ladies Night Out" event at my church.

The title was "Eat Pray Love."

Right up my alley!

Mollie Duddleson, the leader of our women's ministry, handed out several of her recipes.

She had one for meatballs. 

My mouth watered as I scanned the list of ingredients.

I knew it was going to have to be blogged about.

And then I accidentally left without the recipe!

Urg.

But here's my best shot at trying to recreate Mollie's meatballs.

THESE ARE DELICIOUS!
Please don't run away because of the long list of ingredients...

They are worth it.

These freeze and reheat beautifully.


Mix together all ingredients except eggs, olive oil, and water.

Add beaten eggs.


Mix again.

Roll into even-sized meatballs (these are approximately a tablespoon each).
Even-sized meatballs facilitate even cooking times. 

 Heat olive oil in a large skillet.

Add meatballs in batches, being careful not to crowd the pan.
Brown on all sides.

After all meatballs have browned, return them to the skillet.
Add water, cover skillet with lid, and cook for 15-20 minutes
until no pink remains in the center of the meatballs.

Serve with pasta and Parmesan cheese.

Add fresh spinach for a little greenery.

Savory Meatballs
Makes about 30 meatballs

1 pound ground beef, bison, turkey or chicken
1/2 cup shredded Parmesan
1 cup unseasoned breadcrumbs
1/4 cup diced dried apricots (about 5-6 apricots); or substitute golden raisins
1/2 cup yellow onion, shredded or finely diced (about half of an onion)
1 clove garlic, minced (about 1 teaspoon)
2 tablespoons Worchestershire sauce
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons dried parsley (or about half a bunch fresh parsley, chopped)
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 eggs, beaten
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/3 cup water

Mix together the first 11 ingredients.  Pour in beaten eggs and mix well. 

Heat olive oil in large skillet over medium-high heat.

Form meat mixture into tablespoon-sized balls, roll, and set on waxed paper.

Carefully add meatballs to the pan in batches (don't crowd them).  Saute about 5-10 minutes per side, until browned.  Loosen with a firm plastic or wooden spatula, then use kitchen tongs to turn.  Remove browned batch from skillet and add the next batch until all have been browned.  Add more oil as necessary.

Return all meatballs to the skillet, add water, cover, and cook over medium heat for 10-15 minutes, gently stirring often.  (Cut into a meatball to confirm it has been cooked through.)

Serve with penne pasta, fresh spinach and shredded Parmesan cheese.

2 comments:

Caneel said...

Ginny, these look amazing!! And I think we must have the exact same Cuisinart cookware.

Heather -Gathering Spriggs said...

your photographs are beautiful and make me less afraid of red meat. i think i might try a turkey version soon. (sometime when my husband isn't around to smell cooking meat)