Meatballs in sauce Easy recipe

Meatballs in sauce

Homemade meatballs in sauce have always reminded me of my childhood days, a recipe from my mother’s house. One of those foods that triumph when you are little and that you ask your mother day in and day out.

So today we will cook some minced meat dumplings in a vegetable sauce, from the little things that the garden gave and a little white house wine, but in which you can use a good white wine, whichever you like the most.

In some places also called meatballs a la jardinera, for the amount of vegetables they carry. Its flavor is intense, a mixture of all the memories of how my grandmother made the meatballs and since the whole family shared the casserole, I always caught 4 meatballs and a lot of French fries.

It is also always good entertainment that requires some skill but eating them is more fun and, above all, tastier. Within the meatball recipes there are 2 types that almost everyone has tried, the meatballs with tomato and these meatballs in sauce. For these meatballs I always like to mix 50% meat, pork and beef (veal). They would also be amazing with meatballs with chicken and or just pork.

I leave you with this homemade food without much complication, a way to eat meat and vegetables in a healthy and very good way, it is a unique dish that is luxurious. The little ones and not so little ones will love it, and if you don’t like these vegetables you can change them for the ones of your choice, I hope you cheer up with them.

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Ingredients For Meatballs in sauce

For the meatballs:

• 750 g. minced meat (pork, beef or mixed)
• 2 medium eggs
• 150 g. sliced bread without crust
• 5 tablespoons of whole milk
• 1 tablespoon of chopped fresh parsley and a little more for sprinkling
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 onion
• Salt, nutmeg and freshly ground black pepper (to taste)
• Flour to coat the meatballs in breadcrumbs

• For the sauce:

• 1 onion
• 2 carrots
• 1/2 red bell pepper
• 100 g. peas
• 400 g. of potatoes
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 125 ml of white wine
• 1/2 l chicken stock and water (if necessary)
• A few strands of saffron
• 1 bay leaf
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste of each house)
• Mild extra virgin olive oil (for frying meatballs and for the sauce)

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How to prepare the meatballs and the base of the vegetable sauce

We prepare the sauce. Wash and dice the onion very small. We laminate the garlic clove in a low saucepan. Add a splash of virgin olive oil and fry the onion and garlic.

Wash and chop the carrots and red pepper. When the onion has poached, add the rest of the ingredients and sauté. Season to taste.

Add a small spoonful of flour to the casserole and toast the flour for a minute, stirring well. We let the ingredients release all the liquid for about 5 minutes. When it has reduced, pour in the white wine and let it cook over very low heat.

 This process will take approximately 15 minutes, so the carrot will be just right with the rest of the vegetables.

While the vegetables are being cooked, we prepare the meatball mixture. We are going to make the meat balls, so that they all come out more or less the same. Season the minced meat, both veal and pork, in a large bowl.

We break the 2 eggs and add them together with the nutmeg, the fresh parsley (or if we do not have dry), the slices of bread without the crust that we have previously soaked in milk for a few minutes. We let the mixture rest.

Let’s cook the onion and garlic for a few minutes. In this way we will achieve that the onion softens and that our meatballs remain with a homogeneous texture. We will also slightly reduce the strength of the garlic and onion, making the meatball mixture softer.

Preparation and shape of the meatballs

Chop the 2 cloves of garlic very finely (without the inner bud or trunk so that it does not repeat) and the onion into small pieces. We put water to heat and when it boils we add the onion and the garlic. Let it cook for 2 minutes.

Drain and cool with cold water before adding to the previous mixture. As soon as we see that it is at the right temperature, we mix it with the meat.

Stir everything well with your hands until the ingredients are mixed. Cover with cling film and let it rest for one hour in the refrigerator. After the resting time we take the meat out of the refrigerator. This will be the base of our future meatballs. Without fear we begin to work the dough making small (or big, that to the taste) balls that we will then pass through flour.

To do this, we put flour on a plate. With a spoon, you help yourself to take a little bit of minced meat that you will ball up with your hands. Give a first pass, leaving the first round meatball. You pass them through the flour on the plate, roll them a little more and leave them on another clean plate, and so on.

Frying and cooking with the sauce. Presentation of the meatballs in sauce

We leave them on a plate while waiting for the pan. We shake them a little to remove the excess flour. Fry in hot extra virgin olive oil, about three minutes is enough. We booked.

Add the meatballs to the casserole, the saffron and the bay leaf. When the wine has reduced a little, add the hot chicken broth and the peas, leave the fire for 10 minutes.

 If we see that the sauce is too thick, rectify with water (always hot so as not to cut the cooking). When the sauce is ready, we taste the salt. We rectify if necessary.

Let them rest for about 5 minutes while we fry the potatoes with the type of cut that you like the most. 

We serve them warm as is, a great unique dish.

Meatballs in sauce Easy recipe

If you don’t want to accompany them with potatoes, a good mashed potatoes  is an option. 

Another alternative is to make white rice as a garnish, white rice is perfect to mix with the meatball sauce. Without realizing it, you have prepared a wonderful meal. Enjoy!

Tips for the perfect meatballs in sauce

There are hundreds of preparations, each with its own little tricks. The final results are similar to those of the potato tortillas or the croquettes of each house , no two are alike. Here are some tips to even improve this recipe.

• In the process of making the meat base. If you see that you have not drained the bread that you have soaked in milk well and that the mixture does not stick well, it is because there is excess moisture. You can add a little breadcrumbs to make it compact, united but juicy. It should never be dry, but instead of meat balls you will have stones.
• To make the meatballs softer and juicier, add a tablespoon of extra virgin olive oil to the meat mixture. When you prepare the meatballs you should not pile them one on top of the other, each one will have its space. Otherwise, they will end up sticking to each other and lose their shape and charm.
• One way to keep the meat from sticking to your hands is to wet them so they are damp (they don’t have to be dripping, just damp).
• In this recipe for garden meatballs you can substitute the peas for a package of frozen stew.
• When it comes to spicing the meat, you can add garlic powder, salt and parsley. Even your favorite spices, thyme, sage, basil, oregano … whatever you like the most at home.
• Be very careful when toasting the saffron because in a matter of second (depending on the heat of the pan) it burns and is left for the garbage. If it happens better to throw it away and if you have no more saffron you can use a little coloring.
• Like I do with croquettes, I always make extra meatballs. A lot of quantity to be able to freeze later. So any other day that I am in a hurry for time I have a wonderful tuper prepared for food and I don’t worry.

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