Tag Archives: meatballs

Swedish Meatballs Stroganoff

September 22, 2018 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

The other day my husband requested Swedish meatballs for dinner. Having thought I had this recipe down pat, I proceeded to make meatballs seasoned with nutmeg and allspice, coated in a delicious mushroom sour cream sauce. When my husband sat down for dinner he asked, “Wait, did you make beef stroganoff?” I realized I made a sort of Frankensteined recipe. It was so good I thought I would share it.

Meatballs aren’t photogenic AT ALL, so here’s a meatball photo I took back in 2011. Trust me, this recipe was really really good.

Swedish Meatball Stroganoff

Serves 8

Ingredients:

2 slices good white bread soaked in milk
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 onion, chopped fine
2 garlic cloves, minced
salt and pepper
1 pound ground beef
1 pound raw Italian sausage, casings removed
2 eggs
3/4 teaspoons allspice
3/4 teaspoons ground nutmeg
3 tablespoons butter
8 ounces crimini mushrooms, sliced
1/4 cup Marsala or white wine
2 tablespoons flour
2 cups chicken stock
dash of Worcestershire sauce
2 cups frozen peas, thawed
1 cup sour cream
1 pound egg noodles

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 375 F. After the bread has soaked up the milk, squeeze out any excess liquid and break up the bread with your hands. Place into a Kitchen Aid mixer bowl along with the beef and Italian sausage. Set aside.

Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high. Add the onions, salt and pepper and cook until onions are soft, about 10 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and let cool.

Add to the mixing bowl the eggs, allspice and nutmeg. When the onions have cooled, add to the bowl and mix until thoroughly combined.

Form into golf ball-sized meatballs and place on a baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes or until browned and cooked through.

Meanwhile, set a large salted pot of water on the stove to boil. Now we’ll make the sauce while the meatballs are baking and the noodle water is coming to a boil.

Add the butter to the same pan as you cooked the onions. Set to medium-high heat. Once butter is melted add the mushrooms and sauté until their moisture has evaporated and they start to brown, about 10 minutes. If there’s no more butter in the pan, add another tablespoon. Deglaze the pan with the marsala and let it bubble for a minute. Sprinkle on the flour and stir. Cook for 1 minute.

Pour in the chicken stock and Worcestershire sauce. Bring to a simmer and let thicken. If it isn’t thick enough, make a slurry of 1 tablespoon flour with 1/2 cup cold chicken stock and pour that in.

Cook the noodles until al dente and drain. Remove meatballs from oven and set aside. Add the peas and sour cream to the sauce just before serving and heat until peas are hot. Adjust sauce for salt.

Toss in the meatballs and coat them all over with sauce. Serve atop the egg noodles.

Cooking, Italian, recipes, soup

Weeknight alphabet vegetable soup

April 4, 2017 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

When was the last time you had alphabet soup? Now that I think of it, I can’t remember ever having it, yet I always see the cute bag of dried alphabet pasta at the grocery store and think about making it.

My 5-year-old son has been showing an interest in cooking lately so we went to the library last week to check out kids cookbooks. One of the recipes was a tomato-based alphabet soup. He really wanted me to make it.

Fast forward to 4:30 p.m. today when I was driving home with zero plans for dinner. Thankfully I had already done the shopping for this meal. It came together in a jiffy!

This soup is packed with flavor and nutrition. The reason for the flavor? Pancetta and parmesan rind. Both add wonderful depth to the soup.

I also made chicken meatballs and dropped those in while cooking. I didn’t include the recipe for those, but you could use Italian sausage or any meatball recipe you prefer.

The verdict? My son and husband gobbled up this soup! Plus, we all had fun trying to spell words in our bowls. So much fun.

Alphabet soup with vegetables

Serves 6-8

Ingredients:

3-4 oz. pancetta, diced small
1 medium onion, diced
3 carrots, diced small
3 celery stalks, chopped
4-5 leaves of swiss chard, chopped
1, 28-oz can of crushed tomatoes
2 cups beef stock
2 cups chicken stock
1.5 cups frozen green beans
1 chunk of parmesan cheese rind
1 bay leaf
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 tablespoons dried basil
1/2 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
1 can of canellini beans, liquid reserved
2 tablespoons flour
6 oz. dried alphabet pasta, or small pasta of your choice
1 pound of meatballs or Italian sausage

Directions:

Add a little olive oil to a large dutch oven and turn the heat to medium-high. Add the pancetta and sauté until cooked but not browned. Add the onion, carrots, chard and celery and cook till onions are translucent, about 7 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, beef stock, chicken stock, bay leaf, garlic powder, oregano, basil pepper flakes, parmesan rind and a generous amount of freshly ground pepper. Cover, bring to a simmer and turn heat to medium-low. Add raw sausage or meatballs and simmer, partially uncovered, for about 15 minutes. Add the frozen green beans and return to a simmer for another 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, drain the beans and reserve 1/4 cup of the liquid. Whisk the flour into the bean liquid and add this to the soup to thicken it slightly.

Add the beans and pasta to the soup and simmer for 7 minutes or until pasta is done.

Serve with generous amounts of freshly grated parmesan cheese.

Cooking, Italian, recipes

Mini meatloaves with mushroom marsala sauce

April 16, 2015 alaskaknitnat 1 Comment

Growing up I rarely had the chance to eat classic dinner foods such as tuna noodle casserole and meatloaf. I absolutely love these dishes. My mom started making meatloaf after I had moved out of the house and it quickly became a favorite. I don’t know what magic she puts into her recipe, but I’ll never know because, like me, my mom just throws stuff together and doesn’t keep track. Well, tonight’s meatloaf was worth remembering.

I doubled the recipe so there’s plenty of leftovers for meatloaf sandwiches, which are almost better than fresh-out-of-the-oven.

Mini meatloaf with mushroom marsala sauce

Serves 8

Ingredients:

1 oz. dried porcini mushrooms
1 pound ground pork
1 pound ground beef
1/2 cup chopped pistachios or cashews (optional)
2 egg yolks
2 slices of good white bread
2 Tbs. milk
2 Tbs. tomato paste
1 Tbs. Worcestershire sauce
1 Tbs. soy sauce
1/4 cup finely chopped onion
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
2/3 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
1/4 cup chopped pimiento olives (optional)
2 Tbs. dried parsley
1 Tbs. dried basil
2 tsp. dried oregano
salt and pepper
1/2 cup Italian bread crumbs
2 Tbs. butter
1 Tbs. olive oil

For the sauce:

2 Tbs. tomato paste
1/4 cup Marsala wine
splash of beef broth
up to 1 cup of reserved mushroom liquid (read recipe for details)
2 Tbs. chopped parsley

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

Place dried mushrooms in a small bowl with hot water. Cover and let sit for 20 minutes. In another small bowl, tear up the bread and add the milk. Let sit for a minute and mash up with a fork.

In a Kitchen Aid bowl add the meat, nuts, yolks, soaked bread, tomato paste, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, onion, garlic, cheese, olives, dried herbs, salt and pepper. Finely chop the mushrooms and add them to the mixture, reserving the mushroom liquid for the sauce. Use the paddle attachment on a low setting until well combined.

Pour the bread crumbs on a tray or pie plate. Heat butter and oil in a large frying pan over medium-high heat. Form four small loaves and dredge them in the bread crumbs. Brown the loaves in the pan two at a time.

Place the loaves in a casserole dish. Top each loaf with decorative olives if you’d like them to resemble a 1950s Betty Crocker cookbook.

Cover with foil and bake for 45 minutes or until the center of the loaf reads 140 degrees on a meat thermometer. Remove from oven, transfer loaves to a cutting board and let sit, covered, while you make the sauce.

The sauce: Reheat the pan that you used to brown the loaves. Pour any drippings from the casserole dish into the pan. When the pan is hot add the marsala and tomato paste and whisk until everything is well combined. Bring to a simmer and turn down the heat. Add about 1/2 cup of the mushroom liquid and a splash of beef broth. Add more mushroom liquid if it’s too thick. Add parsley just before serving.

Slice loaves into thick slabs. Serve with egg noodles and green beans. Slather with delicious meat sauce.

mini meatloaves with mushroom marsala sauce — Yay, leftovers!

asian, Cooking, recipes, South Beach

Asian Meatballs

August 21, 2013 alaskaknitnat Leave a comment

I’m thinking about doing the South Beach Diet. The problem is, I love pasta and noodles. I had a hankering for gyoza tonight, so I thought I’d just make the filling in the form of meatballs and ditch the noodle.

Turned out I didn’t really miss the won ton wrapper after all. This meal is quick and uses common fridge ingredients. Put whatever veggies you prefer in the stir fry. I happened to find a tasty edible mushroom in my yard right before dinner, so I tossed that in at the last minute.

Ingredients (I eyeball everything):
1 lb. ground beef
1 egg
2 Tbs. soy sauce
2 Tbs. rice vinegar
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup panko flakes (not South Beach friendly, so omit if needs be)
2 tsp. sesame oil
1/2 tsp. fish sauce
1/2 tsp. ginger powder
2 green onions, finely chopped
salt and pepper

For the sauce:
1/4 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tbs. rice vinegar
2 tsp. sesame oil
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp. fish sauce
1/2 tsp. ginger powder
1/2 tsp. corn starch (again, not South Beach friendly)
1 Tbs. oyster sauce (optional)

Broccoli, tofu, zucchini, and other stir fry veggies

Directions:
If using tofu, drain it and cover in paper towels. Place a heavy pan on top to get more liquid out. Mix together the meatball ingredients thoroughly, cover and let sit in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Form meatballs and place on a cooling rack on top of a cookie sheet so the fat is allowed to drain away while they cook. Bake for 30 minutes or until they are browned and cooked all the way through. Set aside.

Whisk together the sauce ingredients and set aside.

Meanwhile, cut the tofu into cubes and cut your stir fry veggies up into bite-sized pieces. Heat 2 tsp. cooking oil in a wok over high flame until the oil shimmers. Add the tofu and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes. Set aside. Add another teaspoon of oil to the wok and reheat. Add the veggies and half the sauce. Mix well, cover and let cook for about seven minutes or until veggies are tender.

Uncover, add the rest of the sauce, the tofu, the meatballs and toss till everything is thoroughly coated.

Serve alone or with brown rice or farro if you aren’t in Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet.