Roast Meatballs with Creamy Shiitake Sauce

Juicy tender meatballs in a delicious creamy shiitake mushroom sauce served with a simple leafy salad. Easy, comforting and incredibly delicious! You can serve them with mashed potatoes, polenta, noodles or bread if you ain't on low carb diet.
Had to remove bouquet garni before roasting because my baking pans are too small. If you used one large baking pan, then pour the sauce over meatballs with herbs.

Meatballs	Sauce
500 g Minced meat (I used half beef half lamb) 60 g Dried apricots, finely chopped (currants, prunes or raisins all great) 40 g Breadcrumbs - use gluten-free if required 2 Shallots, peeled and minced 6 Garlic cloves, peeled and minced 1 tsp Ground black pepper 3/4 tsp Fine sea salt 1 tsp Ground mace or nutmeg 2 tbsp Flat parsley, finely chopped (plus 1 tbsp for garnish) 1 tbsp Tallow, ghee or chicken schmaltz	15 g Dried shiitake, cut each into 3-4 chunks 400 ml Hot beef stock 1 tbsp Tallow, ghee or chicken schmaltz 1 Large onion, chopped 2 Garlic cloves, finely chopped 200 g Brown mushrooms, halved or quartered if large 150 ml Dry white wine 1 Bouquet garni (bay, sage, thyme, and mugwort) 300 ml Double cream

Meatballs

Sauce

500 g Minced meat (I used half beef half lamb)
60 g Dried apricots, finely chopped (currants, prunes or raisins all great)
40 g Breadcrumbs - use gluten-free if required
2 Shallots, peeled and minced
6 Garlic cloves, peeled and minced
1 tsp Ground black pepper
3/4 tsp Fine sea salt
1 tsp Ground mace or nutmeg
2 tbsp Flat parsley, finely chopped (plus 1 tbsp for garnish)
1 tbsp Tallow, ghee or chicken schmaltz

15 g Dried shiitake, cut each into 3-4 chunks
400 ml Hot beef stock
1 tbsp Tallow, ghee or chicken schmaltz
1 Large onion, chopped
2 Garlic cloves, finely chopped
200 g Brown mushrooms, halved or quartered if large
150 ml Dry white wine
1 Bouquet garni (bay, sage, thyme, and mugwort)
300 ml Double cream

In a large mixing bowl, combine all the meatball ingredients, except for the tallow, using your hands to mix them thoroughly. Shape the mixture into 18-20 meatballs.
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a frying pan over a medium heat and brown the meatballs until golden (in batches if necessary), about 6 to 8 minutes. Divide amongst individual baking dishes, or transfer to one large baking dish.
Preheat the oven to 200C/400F. Soak the porcini in the hot lamb stock while you start making the sauce. Heat the tallow in the same pan as before then gently cook the onion, garlic and mushrooms for about 5 minutes.
Increase the heat and continue cooking until the ingredients begin to caramelise, then add the white wine and the bouquet garni. Allow the wine to bubble and reduce for about 2 minutes. Tip in the soaked shiitake and stock and let the liquid reduce for a further 5 minutes.
Add the cream and stir vigorously to fully incorporate. Pour the sauce over the meatballs and bake for 20-30 minutes until golden and bubbling.
Scatter with the parsley and serve with your favourite salad and bread or noodles to soak up the sauce.

27 comments:

Granny Sue 11/12/24 13:01: Apricots! That's a surprise ingredient. And I can just imagine how good that would be.
eileeninmd 11/12/24 13:21: Another delicious recipe, Angie!
Take care, have a wonderful day!
Tom 11/12/24 13:58: ...Angie, you hit a homerun again!!!
DEZMOND 11/12/24 14:01: Shiitake are so healthy!
ellie 11/12/24 14:07: So nice to see this warm and inviting winter dinner!
Ivy's Closet 11/12/24 14:08: I think I could eat this for breakfast! So yummy!
Caitlin'nMegan 11/12/24 14:09: Awesome dish! I would love to try it!
Jeff the Chef 11/12/24 15:32: This is the ulitmate in comfort foodiness! I love that the meatballs have apricot, and I love the spice combination in the sauce.
Christine 11/12/24 16:18: Comforting
DeniseinVA 11/12/24 19:33: Looks delicious and presentation is as always, a delight. Thank you Angie!
Bill 11/12/24 20:23: Looks delicious, Angie. Thanks for the recipe.
Brian's Home Blog 11/12/24 22:13: Oh those meatballs look so darn good!
roentare 11/12/24 22:47: That makes me feel hungry so much
Lowcarb team member 11/12/24 23:11: Looks a lovely comforting meal, great for cooler weather.

All the best Jan
Citu 11/12/24 23:21: Se ve muy rica la receta. Tomó nota. Te mando un beso
My name is Erika. 12/12/24 00:31: You can never go wrong with a meatball, no matter what type of sauce you put them with. This one sounds really yummy.
Jenny 12/12/24 00:55: What a great looking recipe. We just got a kitchen cabinet painting and I've loved being in there cooking yummy meals ever since. This will be tomorrow's dinner. Thanks for sharing!
kathyinozarks 12/12/24 04:31: Sounds delicious I love shitakes
Anonymous 12/12/24 04:47: This sounds delicious!
Tandy | Lavender and Lime https://tandysinclair.com
Margaret D 12/12/24 06:38: Looks good and I do like the ingredients but for one and that is prunes, but we have a substitute.
Cooking Julia 12/12/24 18:22: Those meatballs look tender and moist. Good mix with the mushrooms!
Carol @Comfort Spring Station 12/12/24 19:57: The meatballs in sauce look so yummy.
Federica Simoni 14/12/24 16:21: sembrano buonissime!
The Velvet Runway 16/12/24 09:38: This sounds like a wonderful combination of ingredients and it looks delicious!
Julia x
https://www.thevelvetrunway.com/
Raymund | angsarap.net 17/12/24 20:46: These juicy meatballs in a rich shiitake mushroom sauce sound like the ultimate comfort food! they are my favourite combo, meat, cream and mushrooms
tigerfish 18/12/24 03:31: Indeed, such a comfort dish!
Anonymous 26/12/24 23:57: What a wonderful combination! I’m adding this to our menu for next week!