Porcupine Meatballs
Description
These really are different from ALL of my other meatball recipes…borrowed from, ‘Dinner: A Love Story’, by Jenny Rosenstrach, we all loved them. Please remember that when I go to the bother of making meatballs, I make a lot and put some in the freezer…so feel free to make a smaller recipe – enjoy!
Ingredients
Porcupine Meatballs
3 lbs. ground turkey (or beef)
1 1/2 c. uncooked rice – I used sprouted brown rice, but something like basmati would enhance the ‘porcupine’ effect
1 small onion, finely diced
1 small green pepper, finely diced
1 T. salt
4–6 cloves of garlic, finely minced
Sauce
1 large can (1.36L/48 oz.) tomato juice
10–12 whole cloves (count them!)
1 1/2 t. cinnamon
1/3 c. sugar
3 T. Worcestershire sauce
V-8 juice or more tomato juice for cooking – optional
Instructions
Combine the 6 meatball ingredients in a large bowl and mix well – using your hands will be necessary. In a deep skillet or good-sized pot (I used my large, deep, non-stick skillet and all of the meatballs and sauce fit), whisk together the 5 sauce ingredients and bring the sauce to a simmer.
As the sauce is gently simmering, roll the meatball mixture into golf ball sized (or smaller, smaller will cook faster) balls and carefully place them in the sauce as you go. As you roll the meatballs and as they cook, carefully try to roll them around in the skillet so that all get equal ‘sauce time’. Simmer them all for about 45 minutes until the rice is cooked through (and the rice is sticking up and out like a porcupine) – feel free to add some optional V-8 or regular tomato juice if you need more liquid. When you’re happy with the meatballs, remove the cloves and dinner’s ready. I made a bit of pasta for the girls but Brock and I just enjoyed ours straight up with a salad.
- Category: Ground Beef, Meatballs, Rice, Make-ahead, Freezes Well
