Braised Meatballs in Red Wine Gravy

Last night I made braised meatballs in red wine gravy and it was so good. They were a little time consuming, but each step was simple and they were so worth it. While I was preparing the meatballs, my husband said that he could smell them throughout the house and I hadn’t even baked them yet. Needless to say, it was a little torturous for him because he was already hungry.

 

This recipe is a little time consuming just because of how many little steps there are. Though, you’ll be happy you made it once it’s ready to eat. This dish is a great dish for a nice dinner party. I assure you, you would receive many compliments on it. It is very rich and comforting and once they’re made, according to my husband, your house will smell like an Italian restaurant. Personally I think that’s a good thing. My house could smell like an Italian restaurant all day long.

PSX_20190913_144948

These meatballs will definitely be a recipe we use time and again. Especially if I want to impress friends and family. Just make sure you have a great bottle of red wine on hand to serve it with. Because what better wine to serve with a red wine gravy than a red wine?

PSX_20190913_145033

BRAISED MEATBALLS IN RED WINE GRAVY

Serves: 6

INGREDIENTS:

    • 1 6-ounce piece day-old French Bread, cut into 8 pieces (about 1/3 a loaf of bread)
    • 1 cup whole milk
    • 1 pound ground beef (7 to 15% fat)
    • 3/4 pound ground veal
    • 2 large eggs, lightly beaten
    • 1 medium onion, finely chopped
    • 1/2 cup chopped parsley
    • 2 teaspoons salt
    • 1 teaspoon black pepper
    • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
    • all purpose flour
    • 2 tablespoons butter
    • 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil
    • 1 1/2 cups red wine
    • 1/4 cup tomato paste
    • 2 1/2 cups canned beef broth

Mashed Potatoes

    • 1 bag of baby spinach
    • 4 pounds Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled and cut into 2-inch pieces
    • 1 stick butter
    • 1 1/4cupswarm whole milkor more
    • 2 cups grated Gruyère cheese

DIRECTIONS:

  • Preheat oven to 350. Combine bread and milk in a medium bowl, pressing on bread to submerge. Let sit 10 minutes.
  • Squeeze out most of milk from bread and discard milk. Place bread in a large bowl. Add ground beef, veal, eggs, finely chopped onion, parsley, salt, pepper, and thyme. Using your hands, mix together until well combined.
  • Form 1 3/4 inch meatballs and place in 1 or 2 13-by-9-inch glass baking dishes. Bake for 30 minutes. Let cool slightly.
  • Dust meatballs with flour and shake off excess. Melt butter and oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. In 2 batches, saute meatballs until browned on all sides, about 3 minutes.
  • Return all meatballs to skillet. Whisk together tomato paste and wine. Add to skillet and bring to a boil. Continue boiling 5 minutes, until liquid thickens slightly. Stir often.
  • Add broth, reduce heat to medium and simmer until it thickens, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.
  • Cook potatoes in a large pot of salted water (I used kosher salt, but whatever salt you use, don’t put the salt in until the water begins to boil. Adding salt to the water before it boils will make the water take longer to boil) for 30 minutes, until very tender. Drain well. Place in bowl with butter and mash well.
  • Add milk to potatoes and mash and stir to incorporate. Add cheese.
  • Add spinach and stir it in. The heat from the mashed potatoes will wilt and steam the spinach. If your potatoes have cooled off to much to do this, you can microwave them to heat them back up.
  • Season liberally with salt and pepper.

 

 

Recipe adapted from Spicy Southern Kitchen


2 thoughts on “Braised Meatballs in Red Wine Gravy

Leave a comment