One day while cooking meatloaf I had a lot of extra burger and decided to give them a try.
I've been making them ever since because they are so handy to have in the freezer.
All you do is season your burger any way you like it (I like a lot of onion in mine also), toss in a couple of eggs and add a few bread crumbs to help hold the meat spheres together, then make any size meatball you like.
Drop them one by one into boiling water. Just like this.
Boil lightly for about 15 minutes or until cooked through.
You can see that most of the fat boils right on out.
Remove to a baking pan that will fit in your freezer.
Freeze a couple of hours (until firm) then remove to a plastic freezer bag and store in the freezer. The nice thing about freezing them singly is that you can remove just a few at a time.
You can just drop them as is into spaghetti sauce, or you can brown them first in a little oil. I like to brown them a bit if I have the time because they do look and taste better. Sometimes I put them in a sweet/sour sauce over rice or a mushroom soup sauce over noodles.
If you are home all day and have a lot of time to make dinner, then you probably would not be too interested in this. But if, like me, you have very little time to cook, but still enjoy homemade meals, this might be a handy timesaver that you've never thought of.
Never head of doing boiled meatballs.
ReplyDeleteI would imagine they stay a bit more moist than baking them and then freezing them as I've been doing.
I will try them this way next time!
Sue, yes, they do seem to be more moist and have a soft texture. Sometimes when I baked them, they were like hard little rocks. I hope if you try them you like them.
ReplyDeleteHeehee, I just buy frozen meatballs at the grocery store. I do know that fatty items like sausages benefit from being boiled before grilling on the barbecue. You still get a moist sausage with grilled flavour, but without the high fat content that most of us could do without.
ReplyDeleteI make boiled meet balls - bigger one - from porc. With potatoes.
ReplyDeleteSigrun
I make meatballs a lot but never thought of boiling them...what a neat idea. Will definitely try that next time:-)
ReplyDeleteNever heard of them Zoey, but I do like the idea. Must give them ago next time I'm having a big baking day. Thanks for the tip.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! H usually bakes his and then rinses them before freezing. This method makes more sense.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea Zoey! Thanks for posting this. I`m going to try this out.
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xo
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ReplyDeleteI once went to a friend's house and she put the raw meatballs right in the spaghetti sauce. That was not appealing to me. I can't see why you can't make a bunch and bake them as I usually do and I am sure you can freeze them as well. I think if the meat isn't moist to begin with, then you end up with hard meatballs. This is an interesting concept though and works for you!
ReplyDeleteI was wondering what they actually taste with without some of their fat? That's why I deleted the above and added to it.
Never heard of boiling meetballs, but it sounds very handy...especially if you're having lots of people over and are limited with your time in the kitchen. Great idea.
ReplyDeleteyou know? in Mexico is called "caldo de albondigas"..or meatball stew. Very common to eat meatballs boiled with carrots, zuccini, cilantro, anaheim chiles (long light green one), etc.. makes such a good stew (caldo) for the winter time :)
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