Braised Meatballs in Red Wine Gravy
Savory meatballs recipe made with beef, veal, and pork, adapted from Epicurious
Servings: 8 People
Cost: $20
Ingredients
- 1/3 loaf bread preferably day old. Tore in pieces, crust on.
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 3/4 - 2 lbs beef, pork, and veal All ground.
- 2 large eggs
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- I handful Italian parsley leaves plus more for garnishing
- 2 leaves fresh sage
- 3 cloves garlic
- Salt and pepper to taste
- All purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons 1/4 stick butter
- 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
- 2 cups dry red wine
- 1/4 cup tomato paste
- 3 cups canned beef broth
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Combine bread pieces and whole milk in medium bowl, pressing on bread to submerge.
- Squeeze out most of milk from bread; discard milk.
- Place bread in large bowl. Add ground meat, eggs, finely chopped onion, parsley, sage, garlic, and salt, pepper.
- Working in 2 batches if necessary, transfer meat mixture to the food processor, process until well blended and mixture looks pasty.
- Form mixture into 1 3/4-inch-diameter meatballs (about 30). Divide meatballs between two 13x9x2-inch glass baking dishes. Bake meatballs 30 minutes. Set meatballs aside.
- Dust meatballs with flour; shake off excess.
- Melt butter with oil in a heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Working in batches, add meatballs to skillet and sauté until brown on all sides, about 3 minutes.
- Return all meatballs to skillet.
- Whisk wine and tomato paste in small bowl to blend. Add wine mixture to meatballs and bring to boil.
- Continue boiling until wine thickens slightly, stirring frequently, about 5 minutes.
- Add broth, reduce heat to medium and simmer until flavors blend and gravy thickens, stirring frequently, about 15 minutes.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper. Transfer meatballs and gravy to bowl. Sprinkle with remaining parsley and serve.
Notes
Tips for Making Great Meatballs
- Don't overmix the meat! You wamt tender, losely compacted meatballs, not a tightly-packed sausage. You'll get more a more evenly cooked and better tasting meatball this way.
- Regardless of the meat you use, make sure it has a minimum fat to lean ratio of 20:80. If the meat is too lean you will end up with a less flavorful and dryer meatball.
- Added ingredients mean added flavor! Think of toasted nuts, fresh herbs and other seasoning. Fresh is always best!
Nutrition
Calories: 674kcal | Carbohydrates: 6g | Protein: 40g | Fat: 48g | Saturated Fat: 19g | Cholesterol: 202mg | Sodium: 602mg | Potassium: 766mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 321IU | Vitamin C: 2mg | Calcium: 91mg | Iron: 5mg
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