- 11. 2020
HUNGARIAN ‘TYPE’ MEATBALLS
Gluten and Lactose-Free
Serves: 2 to 4
If you made beef goulash use the leftover sauce as I did or you can make the sauce from scratch. If you start the sauce before you start with the meatballs, things will move along faster.
The other day I made beef goulash and had a lot of sauce leftover. Peter loved the goulash, especially the sauce which he slurped up with the homemade pappardelle that I had made to go with the goulash.
I changed things around a little bit when making the goulash. I had 1 pound of beef. So, I changed some ingredients and increased some. Using sweet onions and caramelizing them and using 1 T of ghee and 4 rashes of rather fatty bacon. I had also added 1 T of agave instead of 1 t sugar, and added a bay leaf and some peppercorns. I added a little bit more of each spice. Carraway seeds - 1 t. Smoked paprika - 2 t. Sweet paprika 3 t. Kosher salt – 2 t. Ground black pepper – ½ t. I added carrots - 2 ½ c and little potatoes - 1 ½ c.
Anyway, dinner was delicious but there was a lot of sauce left. I decided to add browned ground beef to the sauce and make more pappardelle. Then realized if I used the spices I used in the original goulash and made the ground beef into balls, I would have made what I would call HUNGARIAN ‘TYPE’ MEATBALLS. They would cook much faster than chunks of beef that needed to be braised for an hour and more time for the carrots and potato to cook.
So here is what I prepped to get theses meatballs going: (if you didn’t have left over goulash sauce, then prep the ingredients for the sauce at this time as you will need to make a sauce)
Meatballs:
ghee - 2 t
Bacon – 2 rashes, sliced super thin, I used bacon that was rather fatty froze it for 20 minutes to help with the slicing.
Onion – 1 c, minced
Carraway seeds – 1 ½ t, ground
Smoked Paprika - 2 t
Sweet Paprika – 2 ½ t
Kosher salt – 1 t
Ground black pepper – ½ t
Ground beef – 1 lb. 93% lean,
Water - 1 t
baking soda - 1 t
Agave - 1 t
Breadcrumbs – ½ to 1 c, (homemade fine ground)
Rice flour - 2 T
Carrots – 1 c + cut in 1” chunks
Yukon Gold potato - 1 c cut in 1” chunks
Frozen green peas – 1 c (I just realized that should have been added)
Leftover Hungarian Beef Goulash sauce* ½ c or so of tomato sauce if needed
To serve with:
Gluten-free pasta*– 6 – 8 oz (homemade is great)
If you need to make sauce from scratch:
Onion - 1 c, ½” dice
Ghee - 1 T
Bacon – 4 rashes thinly sliced
Carraway seeds - 1 t
Smoked Paprika - 2 t
Sweet Paprika – 1 T
Bay leaf – 1
Peppercorns - 4
Arrowroot starch - 2 T
Beef Broth – ¼ c
Petite diced tomatoes – 14 oz can
Diamond Crystal Kosher salt - 1 t
Ground white pepper - 1 t
Agave – 1 T
Garnish:
Chopped fresh parsley
Let’s cook meatballs:
Spoon the ghee into a skillet, and add the thinly sliced bacon into that skillet and cook until almost crispy, add the minced onions and a pinch of the kosher salt and sauté till goldenly caramelized. Remove skillet from the heat and drain the onions and bacon with a strainer and set aside cool. Add the fat back into the skillet and set aside.
Mix the baking soda and water and toss with the ground beef. Mix the ground carraway, the two paprikas, salt, pepper, agave, breadcrumbs, cooled onions and bacon together and add to the ground beef and mix well with a fork.
Form into 2 T balls, roll them in the rice flour and sauté in the skillet with the reserved fat. When well browned, add the meatballs to the leftover sauce with the carrots and potato, discard the fat or keep for another use, if needed add ½ to 1 c of broth stir, bring to a boil, then simmer for 15 minutes or so until the carrots and potato are done.
Serve over pasta of some sort.
*if you did not have left over sauce. Make the goulash sauce to go with the meatballs.
Let’s cook sauce:
Spoon the ghee into a Dutch Oven and add the bacon into it. Sauté till almost crisp, add the onion with a pinch of salt and cook stirring occasionally until the onions are beginning to be caramelized.
Add the carraway seeds, the paprikas, the bay leaf and peppercorns to the pot and sauté for about 30 seconds.
Then add the arrowroot starch and stir well to make a roux. To this add the broth, diced tomato and the agave and stir well. Bring to a boil, cover and simmer for about 30 minutes to get the flavors to meld.
Add the meatballs to this sauce along with the carrot and potato chunks and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked through and soft. If needed, add ½ to ¾ c of beef broth, water or tomato sauce.
Serve with pasta. A salad on the side is always good, but I think there is more than enough vegetables in this dish if you want to skip the salad. Crusty bread* would not go amiss!
*Homemade gluten free pasta recipe will be yours in a future post.
*A recipe for crusty rolls too will be yours in a future post.
Enjoy!