Hedgehogs with gravy: recipes and secrets for choosing ingredients

2024 Author: Isabella Gilson | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:14

There are many possibilities for using meat products in cooking. Minced meat is one of the most acceptable options. Chopped meat is better digested, lets out more juice and is fragrant. And the most delicious way to cook it is to make hedgehogs with gravy.

Rice selection

Creating the perfect dish is a creative process, but choosing ingredients is not about inspiration. The first of the components needed by the cook is rice. You will have to choose from:

1. White (polished). Such rice undergoes long-term processing, during which its culinary properties are improved, but nutritional properties are deteriorating. Some substances important for the human body are lost.
2. Steamed. This variety is much better than the previous one. Useful minerals are preserved in rice by 80%. However, it is firmer and takes much longer to cook.
3. Brown. This rice has not been processed. It is considered the most delicious of those that are easy to buy in stores. However, it has an expiration date, so keeping it at home is difficult.
4. Long grain. In its advantage - imported goods. It differs mainly only in shape from the domestic round-grain.

We will not consider other varieties. These are either genetically modified "golden" varieties, or simply expensive imported products. Using them when cooking hedgehogs with gravy is a waste of money and effort in processing. So which rice is better to choose?

If you want to take the time to decorate the dish, then you can use two types - round and long grain. The first is needed for preparing a side dish, and the second for a mixture with minced meat. This will make your hedgehogs with gravy a little spicier and taste spicier.

Ingredients

Let's start with one of the most undemanding recipes in terms of products. With it, all cooking will take you a maximum of 30 minutes. The amount of ingredients is designed for 3-4 servings, but since they are usually calculated on small "restaurant" dishes, it is likely that two people will eat everything in one sitting.

We will need:

• 400 grams of minced pork;
• half a cup of rice;
• 1-2 bulbs;
• carrot;
• 250 milliliters of tomato juice (you can dilute the tomato paste with boiling water);
• s alt to taste;
• allspice;
• sunflower oil.

Cooking

This dish is cooked in the oven. Hedgehogs with gravy will turn out very juicy and tender. Therefore, before cooking, turn on the stove and start preheating the oven to 180 degrees.

1. Rinse the rice under running water. After that, fill it in a glass with boiling water, but not above the level of the cereal itself. If you prefer soft hedgehog quills, then pre-boil the rice for 7-10 minutes.
2. Twist the pork through a meat grinder. If you're using a store-bought product, it's a good idea to use a food processor to get rid of any hard clumps.
3. Stir rice with minced meat. Add spices to taste.
4. Chop onions and carrots in a food processor into a porridge. You can do with a regular grater. Fry and then add juice and simmer for a couple of minutes.
5. Roll the minced meat into several balls, place in a baking dish and pour over the sauce.
6. Cover the mold with foil and place in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes.

That's all, hedgehogs in the oven with gravy are ready. When serving, put them on top of the side dish and pour over the sauce. It will run down the meat and soak through the rest of the dish. It turns out incredibly tasty. And most importantly, if you cook for several times, then when heated in the microwave, you will be able to avoid the unpleasant aftertaste of the stale product.

Ready seasoning

Another way to cook hedgehogs with gravy is to use ready-made seasonings from "brand" manufacturers. Their only downside is that they usually contain gluten. If you are afraid of this substance to the point of shaking in your knees, then skip this option. However, in fairness, it is worth noting that gluten does not affect the human body in any way. Its only action is to enhance the taste,because of which a person will eat not one serving, but three. Therefore, it is more a question of self-control, and not the harm of the substance.

Cooking minced meat hedgehogs with rice and gravy in this way is not difficult. Detailed instructions can be found on the back of the seasoning pack. In short, the whole procedure boils down to the following:

1. Mix the washed rice, ground beef and spices from the package.
2. Dissolve seasoning mixture in boiled water.
3. Roll up balls of minced meat, put in a pan and pour "sauce".
4. Simmer until tender, turning the hedgehogs occasionally with a spatula to keep them from burning.

This completes the preparation of minced meat hedgehogs with rice and gravy. This option is ideal for those who do not have time for long cooking, but want to eat delicious food.

Slow cooker

This is one of the most indispensable devices in the kitchen of modern young mothers. Allows you to save time, which can then be spent on yourself or your child. Gravy hedgehogs in a slow cooker will taste a little different than other cooking methods, but that shouldn't stop you.

We will need:

• "homemade" minced meat - 500 grams;
• carrots, onions, bell peppers 1 each;
• glass of rice;
• s alt;
• vegetable oil;
• two tablespoons of flour;
• two tablespoons of tomato paste;
• 4 tablespoons of sour cream;
• two glasses of hot water.

After youeverything is ready, you can start cooking:

1. Vegetables must be washed and chopped into small pieces. The pepper is cut into thin strips.
2. Mix minced meat with rice and half of the whole onion. If someone in the family does not eat this vegetable, then you can do without it. The dish will not lose much in taste from this. S alt and pepper the mixture.
3. Roll the minced meat into hedgehogs.
4. Pour oil into the slow cooker, put the vegetables and saute them for 10 minutes.
5. In a separate bowl, mix flour, tomato paste and sour cream. Add water.
6. Now pour everything into a saucepan with vegetables and lay out hedgehogs.

The dish is cooked in the "Extinguishing" mode at a temperature of 180 degrees. The timer must be set to 90 minutes. After the time has elapsed, the hedgehogs in the slow cooker with gravy will be ready to serve.

Despite the fact that this dish is "2 in 1" (both a side dish and a main dish), it should be served with some kind of additive. Boiled rice and mashed potatoes are good.

Choice of dishes

Before you cook hedgehogs with gravy in a pot or pan, pay attention to your dishes. Usually, when cooking in a slow cooker or oven, such problems do not arise, but when creating a dish on a gas stove, it is very common. Of course, we are talking about the smell.

Aluminum and some stainless steel cookware has an unpleasant odor when the surface is heated. If your dishes have such an unpleasant feature, then cooking any dishes,including the quenching process should be avoided. Try to get ceramic, non-stick or Teflon cookware. Cast iron is also good, but it weighs too much for gentle ladies' hands.

In a frying pan

As you understood from the previous paragraph and the title, next we will look at how to cook delicious hedgehogs with gravy in a pan. And we will start with the most important thing - gravy. The "hedgehogs" themselves are the same in almost any recipe. Their taste is often influenced by the sauce. Let's give an example of a recipe for hedgehogs with sour cream sauce this time.

We will need:

• 200 grams of sour cream;
• tablespoon of tomato paste;
• 2 garlic cloves;
• a tablespoon of flour;
• half a cup of hot water.

The cooking process itself is nothing special. Just mix all the ingredients together and add half a glass of water. Separately, it is worth mentioning garlic. It is best to flatten it with a special "garlic press". This will release more juice and make the gravy more flavorful. If you do not have such a device, cut the cloves into thin slices.

Hedgehogs and cooking

For the hedgehogs themselves you will need some:

• 600 grams of meat (or minced meat);
• half a cup of rice (100g);
• egg;
• bulb;
• carrot;
• 1-2 garlic cloves;
• seasoning to taste;
• s alt, pepper - a must;
• vegetable or olive oil for frying.

The cooking process is not much different from all previous instructions:

1. Spin meat in a meat grinder.
2. Rice boil or soak.
3. Chop onions and carrots, then fry until golden brown.
4. Mix ground beef, rice, fried vegetables, garlic and beaten egg.
5. S alt and pepper the mixture. Add your favorite seasonings as needed.
6. Roll the mince into hedgehogs.
7. Place them in a pot or deep frying pan. Pour boiling water up to the middle of the bowl and simmer for 30 minutes.
8. After the time has elapsed, pour over the sauce and simmer for another 20 minutes.

Ready-made hedgehogs can be served with your favorite side dish, sprinkled with herbs.