Please forgive my long absence in my blog, but my computer has been given me some trouble and made it difficult to log on and post my blogs. AHHHH….. Technology…….

Today I will present you with one of my very favorite recipe that was featured in Bon Appetit in 2001. Whoah… 10 years ago. Time really fliesL which I tweaked a bit.

It is easy to make, and so good! I think it is one of my favorite recipe because it is not the regular take on the meatballs. It is a gourmet take on it….try it! You will love it!

The recipe is supposedly for 6 people, but when you have avid eaters like at my house. It will only feed 3, 4 mouths.

Ingredients: 6oz of whole-wheat bread without the crust, 1 cup of milk, 1 lb of ground sirloin, 1 lb of ground veal, 2 eggs, 2 medium onions finely sliced, ½ of cut fresh cut parsley, 2 tsp. of salt, 1 tsp. of pepper, about 2 Tbsp of all-purpose flour, 2 Tbsp of butter, 2 Tbsp of olive oil, 2 cups of red wine, 1 can of tomato paste, 1 can of diced tomatoes, 2 cups of broth. 6/8 potatoes, 1 cup of milk, 3 cups of gruyere cheese, 12 oz of baby spinach.

Turn on your oven at a temperature of 350. Warm up your milk in the microwave for 1 minute until it almost boils. Pour the milk over the breab and let it soak. Once the bread has almost absorbed the milk, drain the milk off the bread but pressing the bread on a sieve. Discard the milk. Place the bread paste in a large bowl, throw in the meat, the spices, one very thinly diced onion, the parsley and with both hands ( I know YUK!) stir and mix until the mixture is well blend. With 1 Tbsp, make 1 inch meat balls that you will roll in your hands to give them their shape. Place the meatballs on a deep flexi pan, (or baking sheet that you would have previously covered with aluminium foil). Bake the meatballs in the oven for 30 minutes. Once the meatballs are cooked, dust them with flour and saute them in a frying pan until they become brown on all sides. You will need to do this in batches of about 8 at a time or you won’t be able to “ saute” them properly and they will fall apart while cooking in the sauce. When all the meatballs have been brown, warm up one Tbsp of olive oil in the same pot, and sizzle the onion until it turns golden and translucent. Add 2 Tbsp of flour and stir until you have created un Roux ( the flour will turn brown). Add the broth, the wine and the tomato paste and stir until you have a thick sauce but not too thick. Bring it to boil and let it simmer. Add the meatballs and cook at a low temperature for 15 minutes. Stir frequently to make sure that the onion or the meatballs don’t burn at the bottom.

I serve them with spinach and gruyere cheese mashed potatoes, but sometimes like today I did not have spinach so I had to do without.

For the mashed potatoes: skin about 6 to 8 potatoes, cut in pieces, place in a large pot, add salt, and bring to boil. Cook until the potatoes are soft or “feel like butter when piercing them with a knife” ( about 30 minutes). Drain well, mash them, and add the milk and the cheese progressively. Once the milk and the cheese have been added, add the spichach and stir. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

To serve, place the mashed potatoes on the plate, place some meatballs oon it or not ( I don’t like to mix it, but my family does), and pour the sauce over the meatball and potatoes. Enjoy!!!!!!

Yum!!!!!

NB: If you don’t have time to make the meatballs, you can always buy them pre-made and add them to the sauce.