I love meatballs. Honestly, I love meatballs in every form in every cuisine. It is probably one of the most versatile food in food history. It can be stewed, fried, steamed, pan fried, baked, in tomato sauce, in creamy white sauce, with cheese stuffing, the list goes on and on. It can also be Italian, Japanese, American, Taiwanese, Swedish. You name it, and yet , it is easy to make and it pleases everyone in the family.
No, seriously. So easy. I just love meatballs in every form.
I like to have each meatball about the same size for the same cooking time. I use a kitchen scale to weigh about 30 grams each. If you do not have a kitchen scale, you can use an ice cream scoop or eye-ball them. It is important that they are the same in size because different sizes will result in different cooking time (some might be over cooked, while others might be under cooked). Another kitchen tool I like to use is a meat thermometer. Once the internal of the meatballs reach 165°F, they are done. This case, I do not have to play the guessing game of "maybe..maybe not". However, it is difficult to measure when we are making cheese stuffed meatballs. So for this dish, thermometer is not required, unless you only want to make regular meatballs.
Mix of ground meat is allowed. You can use all beef or all turkey, if that is what you prefer. Some recipes call for half beef half sausage, that is okay too. It really depends on what you are cooking and how you like it. For example, when making Taiwanese meatballs, you wouldn't want to mix ground pork with sausage. However, it is okay for Italian and American meatballs. Some religions do not eat pork or beef, you can use chicken or turkey or even tofu with seasoning instead. You choose what you want to use. You are the chef after all.
Meatballs in butter sage sauce is creamy but not heavy because lemon juice is going to brighten everything up. It is delicious with pasta, with bread, or with rice and cheese on top baked under broil. Yum! Here is how to make it:
Meatball Ingredient
1 lb Ground Beef
½ lb Ground Pork
½ cup Breadcrumbs
¼ cup Dry White Wine (if not, water is okay)
Half of a medium Onion, chopped
1 tsp Italian seasoning
1 Large Egg
Salt
Some Blue Cheese or any cheese you like as meatball stuffing
Meatball Instruction
In a frying pan, add 1 Tsp oil and 1 Tsp butter over medium heat. Add onion and sauté till brown but not burn. If onion is heating up too fast, turn heat down to med-low. Once brown, turn off heat and set aside.
In a large bowl, add beef, pork, breadcrumbs, wine, onion, egg, italian seasoning, some salt together. Use hands to mix till all well combined and meat sticky. If mixture is too wet, add some more breadcrumbs; if too dry, add a little water. Once done, set aside.
Cut cheese into ½ inch by ½ inch square. Set aside.
Take a sheet of plastic wrap to cover kitchen scale for easy cleaning later. On a baking sheet lay down a sheet of parchment paper or tin foil for meatballs. Preheat oven to 400°F. Use a spoon to scoop out some meatball mixture to form a ball with your palms. Place meatball onto a kitchen scale, each meatball should be 30 grams. Please meatballs on baking sheet till all meat mixture is done.
Now, take 1 meatball at a time, use your thumb to press the centre inwards to make a hole but not all the way through. Place a cheese cube inside and carefully pinch meat around the cheese towards the centre to close. Use your palms to form a round meatball again. Place onto baking sheet. Repeat till all meatballs are done.
Bake in the oven for 15min. Once done, remove from the oven and set aside. Next, we make the sauce.
Butter Sage Sauce Ingredient
4 Fresh Sage leaves, chopped
3 Tsp unsalted Butter
1 cup Cream
Pasta (Spaghetti or any pasta you have)
1 tsp Red Pepper Flakes
Half a Lemon
½ cup Sliced White Mushrooms
Salt & Pepper
Butter Sage Sauce Instruction
In a boiling pot, add salt and stir with a wooden spoon till salt dissolves. Add pasta and cook according to the package instruction.
Meanwhile, in a sauce pan over medium heat, add 1 cup of cream. Once cream heats up, you will see small bubbles start to form, slowly add in butter, 1 Tsp at a time. Use a whisk to mix till combine. Add mushroom and stir. Let cook for a min, then add salt and pepper to taste. Add red pepper flakes and sage. Don't forget to stir. Finally add meatballs to the sauce and let cook for a few minutes. Make sure to spoon some sauce over the meatballs.
Once pasta is done, add to the sauce mixture. Use a tong to combine. Finally squeeze some lemon juice over it and some pepper.
Comments