Meatballs with Mushroom Gravy (63 of 150)

I'm not exactly sure why I thought this would be a good recipe. I suck at making meatballs. I tend to get them too "wet" and they don't stay together. 

So, I gotta admit, this time I completely cheated. I didn't make my meatballs from scratch *gasp! I mean the meat department does such a good job and all the ingredients are the same, so why would I waste my time? I'll admit, though, I kinda wish I had and mixed pork and ground beef. I am not a huge fan of ground pork and the meatballs I bought were all pork. Don't get me wrong, I like ground pork, but I like to cut it with either chicken or beef. 

Ahem.

That aside, this recipe was good. The gravy needed a bit more savory for me so I added a dash (very small dash) of Worcestershire sauce. 

Meatballs with Mushroom Gravy

Recipe from Jo Cooks

Serves 6

For Meatballs:

• 2 pound ground pork
• 1 large onion (chopped)
• 3 T fresh dill (chopped)
• 2 eggs
• ¾ c bread crumbs
• ¼ c buttermilk
• 1 T hot sauce (I used Sriracha sauce)
• salt and pepper to taste
• vegetable oil

For the mushroom sauce:

• ½ pound cremini mushrooms (sliced)
• 4 T unsalted butter
• ¼ c all-purpose flour
• ¼ c white wine
• ½ c heavy cream
• 1 c chicken broth
• salt and pepper to taste

Combine the meatballs: Add all the meatball ingredients (excluding the vegetable oil) to a large bowl and mix well using your hands. Shape into 1 inch meatballs. You should get about 40 to 50 meatballs.

Prep for cooking: Line a baking sheet with paper towels. Add some vegetable oil to a large skillet, about 1/4 cup and heat it over medium-high heat.

Cook the meatballs: Add meatballs to the skillet and cook. If not all meatballs fit in the skillet you will have to do this in a couple batches. Cook the meatballs on all sides, adding more oil if needed in between batches. Remove meatballs from skillet to prepared baking sheet, to soak up the oil.

Saute the mushrooms: Discard any leftover oil from the skillet and add the butter and melt. Add the mushrooms to the skillet and saute for about 5 minutes until they start to brown.

Create the sauce: Sprinkle the flour over the mushrooms and stir, cook for about 1 minute to remove the raw taste of flour. Add the white wine, heavy cream and chicken broth. Cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. The sauce should thicken and reduce a bit. If the sauce is too thick add a bit more heavy cream or chicken broth.

Finish the dish: Add the meatballs to the mushroom sauce and toss them around making sure they're covered in the sauce. Cook for 2 more minutes until they heat through, then garnish with fresh parsley or dill. Serve over mashed potatoes, noodles or rice.