recipe: meatballs, redwine tomatoes, orzo

cook-a-cow continued 

this week’s cut: premium off-cuts, #1-6 loin, sirloin, rump minced

Premium mince, this is a mince made by the butcher from the trimmings of the better cuts, the loin, sirloin & scotch fillet, the rump, and elsewhere, including some of the fat&sinew, so the meat is of a good quality, but also flavoursome & juicy enough in the cooking. perfect for meatballs where the flavour of the meat is left to speak for itself.

This week, comfort food. the dish of choice, meatballs with redwine tomato sauce. risotto, which for me is best cooked with a nice chicken stock, was substituted by pasta after a request came through from vegetarian quarters. this then accompanied both the meatballs & the capaonata cooked as this week's alternative. the three noodle box combo then, one of meatballs or caponata in redwine tomato sauce, another with orzo pasta & gremolata, the last a fresh green salad. nothing fancy, just wholesome food for the end of a long week.

ingredients: meatballs

beef mince, onions, garlic, fresh thyme, s'n'p

method

*finely dice & saute seasoned onions & garlic before mixing into mince. add thyme. mix well by hand.

*you may need to correct the seasoning (if on hand, i'm not shy to splash in a little worchester sauce)*i always test the mix by rolling a tester & cooking it off, not just for tasting, but also to check consistency.

*depending on your choice of mince, a whole egg & a handful of breadcrumbs can be used to help bind the mince.

*in olive oil, flash in a pan to get some colour happening then into a nice hot oven to heat through. to long & the meatballs will harden & dry out. remember, once hot the temperature of the meat will keep the cooking happening once taken from the oven, so a little rare is fine. you want coloured on the outside, moist & a just about a little pink inside.

ingredients: redwine tomato sauce

onions, garlic, olive oil, butter, tomato paste, brown sugar, tomatoes, redwine, s'n'p

method

*sweat seasoned onions&garlic in oil&butter til transluscent

*add tomato paste & brown sugar to caramelise a little using a wooden spoon to stop from sticking

*deglaze with redwine & reduce by half

*add tomatoes & simmer.

*sauce can be pureed once thick enough, or not, as preference dictates.

*i like to then pour this sauce over the meatballs, letting them impart some of the meaty flavour into the sauce before serving, liberally shaving parmessan cheese over the top.

ingredients: orzo&gremolata

orzo pasta, olive oil, parsley, lemon

method

*drop pasta into salted water "salted like the sea" at a rolling boil & stir to ensure pieces don't stick

*remove when al-dente, strain, & season immediately with olive oil (prevents it all sticking together) & lemon zest. rest a mo to allow the flavours to penetrate.

*parsley or other herbs, spring onions are nice, can be added as the pasta cools.

*if the pasta is to be stored a day or two, add the herb as you serve instead.

In the aftermath, with only scraps of leftovers remaining, I combined the orzo &gremolata as a side dish, serving it next to a nice wee mountain of meatballs which, since the sauce was all gone, i'd rolled in a gravy sauce made from deglazing the roasting dish with a little beef stock i had in the fridge, some worchester sauce & a dollop of roast peach chutney. quite a different dish in the end, but as a spontaneous quick fix dictated by the realities of necesseity, pretty damn tasty.