These carrot-beef meatballs are a portion of great comfort food for you to enjoy on a crisp day. The sweet, earthy and tender meatballs make a wonderful combo with a spicy vegetable sauce and mashed potatoes. A delicious simple meal.
Sometimes it is so difficult to come up with a simple recipe. But, after all, the simplest recipes taste the best. Just like our parents or grandparents cooked when we were little. Do you still remember? Simple food. And what is simpler than meatballs with mashed potatoes? Wink.
Who loves meatballs? I do. We love a good meatball in our house. They are so easy to make, so versatile and soooooo delicious. Also, you can pair them with salads, potatoes, pasta, or any side dish or add them to your favourite soup. They make a perfect lunch, snack and dinner. They pack nicely in your lunch box, too.
As I said, meatballs can be combined with plenty of vegetables and spices. For example, these zucchini meatballs, carrot soup with spicy meatballs, and meatballs with cranberry sauce. The options are endless.
Meatballs packed with veggies
This is a great way to sneak more veggies into your meal. Especially when you want to hide the veggies from non-veggie friends. Wink. Simply, shred or blend your veggies and add them to the meat mixture, spices and herbs. I like to mix them with my hands because it is easier than mixing them with a fork or a spoon.
In this recipe I used carrots. Besides adding a lightly sweet flavour, carrots add moisture and texture to these meatballs, as well. Simply shred a couple of carrots and mix them with your classic meatball mixture. You can either prepare them in a pan or bake them in the oven. Additionally, the meatballs continue to cook in the sauce.
Make sure you prepare a lovely rich sauce, too. The sauce in this recipe is packed with vegetables and spices, such as coriander, ginger, the classic garlic and onion, celery, carrots and tomatoes. Spice it up with chili for extra heat.
Ingredients for 4-5 portions of carrot-beef meatballs:
- 400-500 g ground meat (beef/pork)
- 1-2 carrots (shredded)
- 1 small red onion (finely chopped)
- salt and pepper
- fresh rosemary (chopped)
- olive oil
- 100 ml of red wine
For the rich tomato sauce, you will need these ingredients:
- olive oil
- 2 tsp of coriander seeds
- 15 g fresh ginger (chopped or shredded)
- 1 large red onion (chopped)
- 2 garlic cloves (sliced)
- 2 celery stalks (roughly chopped)
- 3 carrots (diced or cubed)
- 200 ml vegetable stock
- 500 g of pelati tomatoes (peeled canned tomatoes)
- 100 ml red wine
- fresh parsley (chopped)
- salt and pepper
- 1-2 fresh chili
Ingredients for mashed potatoes:
- 5 medium potatoes
- pinch of salt
- nutmeg
- 20 g butter
- 50 ml milk
- fresh chives
To begin, prepare the meatballs. In a medium bowl, combine ground meat, shredded carrots, onion and rosemary. Season with salt and pepper and, using a cooking spoon or your hands, mix well. Once good combined, form the meatballs (about 4 cm large).
Drizzle some olive oil into a larger frying pan. After it gets hot, add the meatballs and brown them on all sides. In the end, pour in the wine and cook until evaporated. Put aside.
In a larger deep pot, drizzle some olive oil. Heat it up and stir in the coriander seeds, fresh shredded ginger, and chopped onion. Stir for a minute, until the onion gets glossy and the Curcuma and coriander release their aroma.
Then, add the garlic, celery and carrots and saute for a couple of minutes. At this point, pour in the vegetable stock, pelati and red wine. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, cover with a lid and simmer for 30 minutes or until the vegetables get tender.
Afterwards, stir in the parsley, season with salt and pepper and add some chopped chili. Also, add the meatballs, cover with a lid and simmer, on low heat, for 20 more minutes.
Cook the potatoes. Once tender, peel them and mash them using a fork. Season with salt and nutmeg and stir in the butter and milk. Mix until good combined and creamy.
Finally, serve the mashed potatoes topped with carrot-beef meatballs and some delicious spicy sauce. They taste amazing on a crisp night or weekend. Pair it with some homemade bread, to mop till the last drop.
Enjoy.
