Recipe for stewed meatballs in sauce

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

The article introduces the reader to a variety of recipes for stewed meatballs. This dish can be very versatile in taste. A few quick tips will help you get through your first time cooking, and there's a special recipe for experienced cooks that they're sure to love.

How are meatballs different from cutlets, meatballs and meatballs?

In all the host of minced meat dishes, a novice cook can easily get confused if he does not know how to distinguish kebab from meatballs, zrazy from cue balls, and stewed meatballs from steam cutlets. So, how to distinguish meatballs from other products? Here are some salient features:

1. The shape of the meatball is perfectly round, not flattened like a cue ball or cutlet.
2. The usual diameter is 5-6 cm. Meatballs are also round, but they are smaller - no more than three centimeters.
3. Classic stewed meatballs with rice are being prepared, this cereal is not added to other types of minced meat products. This is the main identification mark that it is a meatball in front of you (although there are exceptions).
4. Most often, meatballs are stewed in gravy, unlike cue balls and zrazy (they are simplytopped with sauce).

Stewed meatballs in tomato sauce: a classic recipe

This dish is known to many even in kindergarten, because it was there that the meat balls were the most delicious (judging by the memories of adult gourmets). Small meatballs, richly flavored with gravy, children remember more often than pancakes and casseroles. Combined with mashed potatoes and fresh cabbage salad, stewed meatballs can become a real teleporter to childhood, bringing back an almost forgotten taste of the dish.

To prepare meatballs, you need to prepare the following products:

• 1 kg meat fillet. It is better that it be a combination of beef and pork meat in a free proportion;
• 2-3 bulbs;
• 1 cup half-cooked rice;
• two raw eggs;
• a generous pinch of s alt.

For the gravy:

• 70 grams of flour;
• 1/2 liters of water;
• 60 grams of tomato paste;
• 2 tbsp. spoons of sour cream;
• 1/3 tsp each black pepper and nutmeg;
• s alt to taste.

It is also worth adding that any spices in the gravy can be used to your taste, as long as they go well with meat and tomato sauce.

Subtleties of cooking minced meat

The process of cooking meatballs stewed in tomato sauce begins with minced meat. To do this, pass the meat through a meat grinder along with peeled onions. Some skilled chefs prefer to finely chop the onion, but for this you need to havenecessary skills so that the pieces of this vegetable are the smallest and do not spoil the taste of ready-made meat balls. Rice for meatballs should be only half cooked, as in the process of stewing it will absorb liquid, giving the gravy the necessary thickness, and the meat looseness.

Some ignorant people put raw rice in minced meat, and then lament that the meatballs turned out to be too dense, tough and tasteless. The reason is ignorance of the correct cooking technology: during the stewing process, raw rice absorbs all the liquid from the minced meat in the first place, making it dry, and the gravy in the center of the meat ball cannot be absorbed due to the fact that rice absorbs it first. As a result, the dish disappoints with its taste and is gradually removed from the list of desired dishes.

How to cook meatballs in gravy?

Add s alt to taste, eggs to minced meat with onions and knead it well with your hands, whisking vigorously. This is necessary so that during the frying process the meat balls keep their shape perfectly, without falling apart. Then add rice and mix again so that it is evenly distributed over the minced meat. Next, slightly wetting your hands with warm water, form meatballs in the form of round balls with a diameter of five centimeters. It is better to roll them in flour, then a nice crust is formed during frying, which will additionally preserve the integrity of the products during the stewing process. Fry the meatballs in a pan in vegetable oil (1 cup) until golden brown, put them in a saucepan or a wide pan with a thick bottom.

In the same pan where the meatballs were fried, dilute the tomato paste with one and a half glasses of water, add spices and s alt, let it boil and pour the gravy over the meatballs. Put them on a small fire and simmer under the lid for twenty minutes. Then, in a separate bowl, mix the remaining water and sour cream to a uniform consistency, pour over the gravy in meatballs and mix lightly with a spatula. Let them simmer for another ten minutes, and then turn off the stove. You can serve such meatballs with stewed vegetables, and not with classic mashed potatoes or pasta, as it was in kindergarten. Buckwheat porridge and pickled cucumbers are ideal as a side dish.

Fish meatballs in creamy sauce

If you move away from tradition and cook meatballs not from minced meat, but from fish, you can discover a new dish of a more dietary quality. Its energy value is only 153 calories per 100 gram serving, unlike meat (230-250 kcal). You can cook stewed meatballs in sour cream according to this step-by-step recipe:

1. Pre-boil 130 grams of rice until half cooked, then drain in a colander, rinse lightly with water to remove excess mucus, and cool.
2. 800 grams of fish fillet pass through a meat grinder along with one onion. Mix the minced meat thoroughly with your hands, adding two eggs, 1/2 tsp. allspice, s alt to taste and a little oregano for flavor. Finally add the rice and mix well again.
3. Shape small meatballs, fry them in vegetable oil until light blush and fold into a small widesaucepan.
4. Prepare the sauce: chop one onion very finely and fry until transparent in two tablespoons of oil, add two glasses of sour cream and 150 grams of water, s alt according to taste preferences and a small pinch of nutmeg. Let it boil and pour the meatballs with the resulting sauce.

Simmer them over low heat for twenty minutes and serve stewed meatballs with tender mashed potatoes, lightly sprinkled with grated cheese.

Fragrant Greek Meatballs

Mediterranean cuisine has always been famous for its special flavor, so meatballs are no exception. A skillful combination of spices will turn ordinary meat into a delicious gourmet bliss, and thick gravy will add juiciness and bright colors. For cooking you will need the following ingredients:

• 400 grams each of pork and beef meat;
• 160 grams of stale bread;
• 1-2 eggs;
• 20 grams of fresh mint leaves;
• 10 grams of ground oregano and the same amount of basil;
• 80 grams of olive oil;
• 1/2 tsp s alt;
• 1 tbsp spoon without a slide of granulated sugar;
• 2-3 bay leaves;
• 2 tbsp. spoons of high quality tomato paste;
• three large tomatoes;
• an incomplete glass of purified water.

Cooking

The first step is to prepare a fragrant sauce: dip the tomatoes in boiling water for half a minute, make an incision crosswise in the center and remove the skin with a knife, cut the tomatoes into small cubes. Heat two tablespoons in a saucepan or deep frying pan.oil, place chopped tomatoes there, add sugar and tomato paste. Mix and let boil. Reduce heat to low and add basil and oregano to gravy. Simmer for ten minutes (meatballs can be formed during this time).

Pass the meat through a meat grinder or use another chopper, add bread and eggs soaked in water, mix thoroughly with your hands. Chop the mint leaves very finely and send to the minced meat along with a good pinch of s alt. Knead vigorously with your hands to evenly mix the ingredients and form balls about 4 cm in size. Usually fifteen pieces are obtained from this amount of minced meat. Fry the resulting meatballs in the remaining oil in a pan, giving them an appetizing ruddy color, and ready to be transferred to the gravy. Stewed meatballs will languish in it for ten minutes, after which they can be served at the table along with a side dish of vegetables.

If there is no rice

Sometimes it happens that, thinking about cooking a certain dish the day before, at the beginning of the process you realize that one ingredient is missing, for example, rice. Of course, you can cook without it, but if the minced meat is not enough to cook meatballs for the whole large family? In such cases, universal vegetables come to the rescue, which can be chopped and added to minced meat. The same method is good for those whose children are reluctant to eat boiled vegetables - they simply will not notice them in tender meatballs. For example, you can cook stewed meatballs with potatoes, carrots and a little cabbage of any kind.

Listnecessary products for meatballs without rice

Here's what to cook:

• 500 grams minced pork;
• two medium potatoes;
• two eggs;
• onion, carrot and bell pepper - one each;
• 150 grams of cabbage;
• a small bunch of parsley;
• two art. l. tomato paste + 2 cups water;
• 1 teaspoon s alt;
• 4-5 tbsp. tablespoons vegetable oil;
• 1 tbsp spoon without sugar top;
• 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg and equal amount of black pepper;
• a little dried oregano or basil (one or more of your choice).

How to cook?

Chop the onion finely, grate the carrots, and cut the sweet pepper into small cubes. Heat the oil in a wide frying pan, add the onion and sauté until translucent. Then send carrots and peppers there. While the vegetables are stewing, cut the cabbage into small cubes, add to the common pan and simmer for five to eight minutes, stirring occasionally. Next, chop the cooled vegetables with a blender, mix with minced meat, add potatoes grated on a fine grater and finely chopped parsley.

Send eggs and s alt with herbs and nutmeg there, actively mix the minced meat with your hands to evenly mix the ingredients, and then form meatballs and fry, rolling in flour or breadcrumbs. In the remnants of the oil in which the meatballs were fried, dilute the tomato paste with water, add sugar and black pepper. Let the gravy boil for threeminutes, then immerse the meatballs in it and simmer for twenty minutes over low heat under the lid. You can serve stewed meatballs with cabbage (cauliflower or broccoli), as well as regular fried potatoes.

Fancy sauce for meat balls

Steamed meatballs in sauce can be cooked not only in standard tomato sauce, but in more interesting variations:

1. One onion finely chopped, fry until transparent in two tablespoons of oil and pour a glass of cream. Send there 1 tbsp. a spoonful of white wine and good quality soy sauce, as well as 1 teaspoon of mustard. Bring the gravy to a boil over low heat and pour it over the fried meatballs prepared according to the classic recipe.
2. Boil 300 grams of water in a pan, add four tbsp. spoons of tomato paste, six tbsp. spoons of sour cream and three teaspoons without a hill of ground ginger. Also send a pinch of sugar to the sauce, a little s alt to your taste and nutmeg on the tip of a knife. Bring the gravy to a boil and then use it to make stewed meatballs.

Vegan meatballs with spicy sauce

If a person does not eat meat for ethical reasons, this is no reason not to cook such a delicious dish as meatballs. How about no meat? Vegans do fine without this product, replacing it with other protein ingredients. So what you need:

• 300 grams of potatoes, boiled until half cooked "in uniform";
• 200 grams of walnuts;
• a small bunch of parsley;
• one large onion;
• 2 tbsp. tablespoons of oatmeal;
• two teethgarlic.

For the gravy:

• 60 grams of soy sauce + 150 grams of water;
• 1 heaping teaspoon of corn starch and an equal amount of grated ginger (fresh root);
• 1 teaspoon light sesame seeds;
• 2 tbsp. spoons of cane sugar.

Peel potatoes and mince with onions and nuts, add chopped herbs and garlic, and oat flakes. Knead the mass well with your hands, turning it into minced meat, and then fashion round balls out of it. Roll in flour and place in the oven for 15 minutes to form a crust. The oven temperature is 230 degrees. Next, prepare the gravy by mixing all the ingredients and bring them to a boil over medium heat. Transfer the meatballs to the sauce and simmer covered for five minutes, then carefully turn over and continue cooking for the same amount of time. Let them steep for a few more minutes and then serve while still warm with fresh vegetables.