Meatballs with winter vegetables

I always enjoy meat balls in any shape or form.  If you have some meat balls and tomato pasta sauce already prepared this is a very quick meal for an evening when you are late home, and a meal that focuses on winter vegetables.  You could serve it with wholegrain rice or pasta, or have it alone
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Ingredients

20 beef meat balls
1 cup tomato pasta sauce
0.5 turnip
0.5 swede
1 leek
1.5 cups broccoli
Olive oil
Shaved Parmesan

Mode

Peel the turnip and swede and slice
Clean and peel the leek and slice finely
Break the broccoli into flowerlets
Heat the olive oil in a wok
Add themeat balls and leek
Stirfry quickly until the leek is tender
Add the vegetables and stirfry a while longer
Pour on the tomato sauce and stir through the other ingredients
Bring to a boil and then reduce to a simmer using a simmer plate if needed
Simmer for about 15-20 minutes stirring occasionally
Serve with shaved Parmesan.

Pork and beef balls

Yes, more meatballs! I am a meatball tragic really. This time I made up the meatballs from a combination of minced pork and beef with ginger, garlic and some dried herbs as well as spring onion. For the herbs, I used sage as well as some of the "standard" mixed herbs which contain marjoram, basil, oregano and thyme.

My original plan had been to make fairly big meatballs with an avgolemono sauce. Yes, I am still trying to recreate the Mouries experience.  But time got away from me and I ended up using a ready made tomato sauce that I had on hand. I served it with wholemeal basmati rice, but you could serve it with pasta, or noodles or vegetables or a salad.  I cooked the dish on the top of the stove. But it can also be cooked in 180c oven for about 45 minutes.

Ingredients

500 gr minced pork

500 gr minced beef
2 spring onions
3 cloves of garlic

3 heaped tespoons minced ginger
2-3 teaspoons dry sage 

2-3 teaspooons mixed herbs
Black pepper
Olive oil

500 gr tomato sauce

Mode

Place tomato sauce on stove top in a casserole or pan large enough to hold the meatballs as well

Heat slowly 
Place minced pork and beef in mixing bowl

Chop spring onions finely and add to meat
Crush garlic cloves and add to mixture

Crush ginger and add to mixture
Add dried sage and mixed herbs to mixture
Combine the mixture thoroughly using hands
Using a heaped dessert spoon form meatballs
Heat olive oil in a pan and quickly seal the meatballs in batches

Add meatballs to the tomato sauce and simmer until cooked.
Serve and enjoy!

Pork balls in avgolemono

Yes, it's meatballs again! Surprise, surprise!  When I was in Athens recently on a couple of occasions I had lovely meatballs in avgolemono at Mouries, one of  the local restaurants in Pangrati near where I was studying Greek. I don't think these meatballs bear much relation to those of Mouries, except for the avgolemono, but the pork, and the sage, and the avgolemono are all flavours I associate with Greece.



Ingredients

500 gr minced pork
2 spring onions
3 cloves of garlic
2-3 teaspoons dry sage
Black pepper
Olive oil
1-2 lemons
2 eggs
1.5 cups chicken stock

Mode

Place minced pork in mixing bowl
Chop spring onions finely and add to pork
Crush garlic cloves and add to mixture
Add dried sage and black pepper to mixture
Combine the mixture thoroughly using hands
Using a spoon form small meatballs
Heat olive oil in a pan and quickly seal the meatballs in batch
Place in an pan which can be heated on the stove-top
Bring stock to the boil and reduce heat to simmer
Squeeze lemon and strain juice
Beat eggs for a couple of minutes
Add the lemon juice carefully while continuing to beat
Then add the hot stock in droplets still continuing to beat
Add the egg and lemon mixture to the pan with the meatballs and combine
Heat until the mixture thickens.
Serve and enjoy!

Lamb balls in tomato sauce

These meatballs arose because I felt I wanted something Lebanese-tasting to go with my turnip pickles. I was out late at a meeting so I grabbed a bottle of ready made sauce at a shop on the way home but you could make your own tomato sauce for the simmering.

I ate the meatballs in sauce with rice noodles and some shaved parmesan, but you could also serve with rice or pasta or any type of noodles. If you are one of my "evil carbs" friends, you can leave out the pomegranate molasses and serve the dish without the rice or pasta accompaniment.

Ingredients

 750 gr minced lamb
1 tsp sumac
2 tsp cumin
1 tsp all spice
2 large handfuls coriander
2 tsp pomegranate molasses
2 cloves of garlic
Olive oil
Tomato sauce (already prepared)
Pasta/rice/noodles (accompaniment)
Shaved parmesan

Mode

Heat the tomato sauce in a pan on stovetop and simmer
Chop the coriander roughly
Crush the garlic
Place lamb, coriander, garlic, sumac, all spice, cumin, and pomegranate molasses in a mixing bowl
Mix thoroughly using hands to ensure that all ingredients are blended
Using a dessertspoon and hands form meatballs of whatever size desired
Heat olive oil in frying pan
Seal the meatballs in batches and transfer to the tomato sauce
Simmer the meatballs in the tomato sauce for about 30 minutes
Meanwhile prepare rice, noodles or pasta for accompaniment
Serve with rice, noodles or pasta with shaved parmesan.

Meatballs with Middle Eastern flavour

Readers of this blog know that I really love meatballs in every shape and form and am constantly experimenting with different combinations of flavours. Recently I felt like some lamb ones and thought that Lebanese type flavours would be the way to go.  The resulting meatballs were indeed yummy.

Ingredients
450 gr minced lamb
1 onion
1 bunch of flat leaf parsley
1 tsp allspice
1 tsp sumac
Couple of grinds of black pepper
1 tbs pine nuts
1 egg
Flour
Olive oil


Mode


Place lamb in bowl
Dice onion and add to lamb
Chop parsley roughly and add to mixture
Add spices, pine nuts and egg and mix
Combine mixture thoroughly using hands
Using a dessertspoon and hands form meatballs
Roll balls in flour
Heat olive oil in pan
Add meatballs to oil and seal quickly
Continue to cook in pan turning regularly until cooked through
Enjoy with salad or vegetables

Beef & couscous meatballs

Another day another recipe for meatballs! Yum! I love meatballs. This latest version happened quite serendipitously. I had some beef minced and was thinking about making meatballs. I thought about soutzoukakia with rice but didn't want to take the time to cook rice. My container of couscous was on the bench because I had just filled it up with a new stock. So I thought of using couscous with the beef. The mixture ended up a bit dry so I added some ricotta. They were absolutely yummy with a reminder of middle eastern food.



Ingredients
600 gr minced beef
1/2 cup couscous
1/2 cup water
Cummin seeds
4 spring onions
2 cloves garlic crushed
2 heaped tablespoon ricotta
1 egg
Pepper
Olive oil
Separately prepared tomato sauce
Shaved parmesan

Mode

Prepare the tomato sauce and simmer on stovetop
Bring water to boil and take from heat
Add couscous to water and set aside
Crush garlic and chop spring onions
Place meat, spring onions, garlic, cummin, egg, ricotta and pepper in bowl and mix
Fluff up couscous with fork and add to meat mixture
Mix meat and couscous mixture thoroughly preferably with hands
Using a tablespoon for mixture form in into soutzoukakia shaped meatballs (ie long)
Heat olive oil in a pan
Quickly seal the meatballs in batches and add to pan of tomato sauce
Simmer in tomato sauce for about 30 minutes on stove top or bake in oven for about 45 minutes
Serve topped with shaved parmesan.

Beef and Ricotta Balls

Last night was my first night at home after being in the Dandenongs for three days at a libraryland retreat and after catching up at work later. I was exhausted. On my way home I decided I wanted meatballs in tomato sauce with pasta for dinner. So I stopped by the shops on my way home. Alas! When I got home I realized I didn't have any bread and I didn't want to cook rice.



I started making the meatball mixture anyway but it really needed something else. Voila! I saw some low fat ricotta in the fridge. I sometimes make salmon cakes with ricotta and wondered how it would go. It was fine. I would never have thought of making these meatballs otherwise, but they are really delicious. And just as well as there are more for tonight (or freezing).

Ingredients

Tomato sauce (previously prepared)
600gr minced beef
1 onion
1 egg
2 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon ginger
1 tsp Sambal Oelek
1 teaspoon ground cummin
Half cup grated cheese
150 gr low fat ricotta
Flour
Olive oil

Mode

Have prepared tomato sauce simmering on stovetop
Peel and chop onion finely and place in mixing bowl
Add minced beef and egg and mix (perhaps giving a taste of meat to hovering cat pictured above)
Chop and crush garlic and ginger and add to mixture
Add chilli, cummin, grated cheese and ricotta
Stir until completely integrated, preferably with hands
Place flour on flat plate
With soup spoon and hands shape meatballs and roll in flour
Heat olive oil in pan and quickly seal meatballs in batches
When sealed, add meatballs to tomato sauce which has been prepared previously and is simmering on stove
Simmer meatballs in tomato sauce until cooked
Serve with rice or pasta