Learn how to make porcupine meatballs, the most tenderand savory meatballs I have made yet! They are full of delicious fresh herbs and cooked in a savory and creamy tomato sauce that can be licked with a spoon!
Course Main Entree
Cuisine Russian
Keyword comfort food, meatballs, russian
Prep Time 25minutes
Cook Time 45minutes
Calories 312kcal
Author Mila
Ingredients
The Meatballs
1lbground chicken
1 lbground pork
1/2cup cooked rice
1 large onion
1large carrot
2tbspbutter or olive oil
1 tbsp fresh dillchopped
1tbspfresh parsleychopped
2tsp Kosher or Sea salt
Creamy Tomato Sauce
2tbsp butter or olive oil
1large onion
1 large carrot
2garlic cloves
114 ozcan tomato puree
1tbspfresh dillchopped
1 tbsp fresh parsleychopped
1/4cupsour cream
Instructions
Preheat oven to broil on high.
Add all the onions and carrots to a Vitamix or blender. And puree until smooth. You can also grate the veggetables but I find this is much easier and faster!
In a deep pot or casserole pan, heat butter or olive oil. Cook onions and carrots over low heat for 10 minutes until tender.
Take 1/3 of the mixture aside and place into a large bowl. Allow the rest of the onions and carrots to keep cooking.
Add the ground meat, rice,dill, parsley, salt and pepper to the bowl with the carrots and onions. Mix until well combined.
Heat up a small pan with some olive oil or butter and place a tablespoon of the meat and rice mixture into the pan. This is your taster. It allows you to taste for seasoning. Adjust seasonings as necessary.
Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Using an ice cream scoop, place meatballs on the parchment. There is no need to roll them and make them perfect. The best part is that they will look imperfect and make them look even more like porcupines!
Place meatballs in the oven for 8-10 minutes or until gloriously brown. Depending on how strong your broiler is, you may want to place the meatballs on the second rack. Once your meatballs are done, change the oven temperature. Set it to 300°F.
In the meantime, continue working on your sauce. Add garlic to the mixture and continue cooking over low heat for at least 15 minutes until tender and super aromatic. Add dill, parsley, pureed tomatoes and if needed to thin it out, add a bit of water, ½ a cup at a time. Turn the heat up and bring to a boil.
Take off the heat and stir in sour cream. This is important because otherwise your sour cream will break! Add the meatballs back to the pan and spoon the sauce over them. The sauce should nearly cover them. If it doesn't, add a little more water to thin it out.
Cover with a tight fitting lid and place into the preheated 300°F oven. Again, DO NOT increase the heat, because you will run the risk of the cream seperating! Cook for 35-40 minutes until super tender.
Finish with more dill and parsley if desired and ENJOY!