Meatballs with Red Wine Mushroom Gravy

Meatballs with Red Wine Mushroom Gravy. What does one do after a television appearance? I suppose one writes about meatballs. One can never go wrong with meatballs. Well, unless, you know, one is feeding vegans or something like that.

Gruyère Filled Meatballs with Red Wine Mushroom Gravy

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Gruyère Filled Meatballs

• 3/4 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons vinegar
• 5 eggs
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
• 1 medium yellow onion, minced
• 8 cloves fresh garlic, minced
• 1 teaspoon lemon pepper
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1 teaspoon dried parsley
• 2 teaspoons sea salt
• 2 teaspoons coarse ground pepper
• 1 pound 73% ground beef
• 1 pound ground chicken or turkey
• 1 pound ground veal
• 6 ounces of Gruyère cheese, large diced
• About 10 ounces garlic croutons

Pour milk and vinegar into a large or bowl. Whisk together. Whisk in eggs and Worcestershire sauce until eggs are well-beaten.

Stir in breadcrumbs, onion, garlic, and seasonings.

Crumble up the meat and add it to the bowl. Mix everything together using your hands. Don’t overmix. Stop when everything is evenly distributed.

Create an assembly line: Meatball mixture then cheese then ground croutons then a baking sheet sprayed with non-stick spray to bake the meatballs on.

Use an ice cream scoop to make sure meatballs are all similar in size which will help them cook evenly.

While forming each meatball, place a piece of Gruyère in the middle.

Roll each meatball in the ground croutons and then place on a baking sheet.

Food safety: Don’t allow any extra cheese to come in contact with the raw meat and discard any extra croutons.

Bake for about 25 minutes or, more importantly, until the meatballs reach 165° in the middle. Cooking time varies depending on how large the meatballs are.

Red Wine Mushroom Gravy

• 1/3 cup + 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1/3 cup flour
• 2 cups beef broth
• 1 cup red wine
• 3 tablespoons Better Than Bouillon beef base
• 6-8 ounces mushrooms, sliced
• Sea salt
• Coarse ground pepper

Heat olive oil over medium-high heat.

Sprinkle in flour and stir together. Whisk and cook for a few minutes. This is called a roux.

After the flour has cooked for a few minutes, whisk in the broth and red wine. As the gravy comes to a boil, it will thicken.

Stir in the beef base and continue to season to your liking with salt & pepper. Chopped fresh herb leaves such as sage, rosemary, thyme, and oregano can be nice as well. When the flavors are to your liking, pour gravy over meatballs.

Listen for the oooos and ahhhhs as you serve these savory bites of deliciousness to your guests.

These can also be served over potatoes or pasta for a lovely dinner.