Meatball Stew
What to cook for dinner? I had fresh Roma tomatoes, onions and my favorite organic grass-fed ground beef and my garden vegetables that I can harvest...so, I decided on meatballs for dinner. I was thinking of making meatballs and spaghetti, but it turned out that the sauce was so delicious, that I skipped on the pasta this time around and made a stew out of it instead. This is the life of a chef, create as you cook! FUN!
Meatball Recipe
1 pound organic grass-fed ground beef (I buy my beef locally at Bill the Butcher in Redmond; see web site below)
1/2 red onion, chopped (reserve second half for tomato sauce)
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 egg
1 teaspoon thyme (if you have some in the garden, fresh is best)
1 teaspoon sage (if you have fresh sage, take 2 leaves and chop)
1/4 cup Italian parsley, chopped
1/2 teaspoon chili pepper flakes
sea salt and pepper to taste
Combine all ingredients gently (do not overwork the ground beef. You want to keep the consistency of the ground beef and not turn it into mush). If you want to weigh each meatball, I usually weigh 3 oz each, which makes a good portion size. Place the meatballs on a sheet pan (use a sheet pan with a lip on all four sides). Bake at 350 for 40 minutes.
Sauce
1/2 red onion sliced
6 Roma tomatoes, blanched, peeled and chopped and reserve juices (you can buy organic whole Roma tomatoes in a 1 lb can)4 organic Kale leaves, chopped
4 organic Chard leaves, chopped
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon rosemary
dash of nutmeg
1/4 cup red wine (optional)
sea salt and pepper to taste
Caramelize onions on medium-low heat *see notes for caramelizing onions. When onions are caramelized, add 1/4 cup of red wine to deglaze, cook for a few minutes and add Roma tomatoes, thyme, rosemary, nutmeg and salt and pepper to taste. Cover and let cook for about 5 minutes on low heat.
Remove meatballs from oven and place in tomato sauce and cook for another 10 minutes on low heat until meatballs are well coated.
Serve with pasta or eat alone as a stew.
*Caramelizing Onions
Place onions in a pan on medium-low heat, when onions become a little dry and start browning, add some water to the pan and stir the onions (about 2-4 tablespoons of water at a time). When onions dry and they start turning brown again, add more water and repeat this process at least 6 times until onions are golden brown and well caramelized.
Bill the Butcher Organic Meats
