Russian Meatballs with Rice in Tomato Sauce


Ingredients: minced veal, minced pork, sushi rice, eggs, carrots, onions, tomato paste, tomato puree, butter, sugar, Aleppo pepper, kosher salt, vegetable oil, parmesan cheese, parsley.
Chop onion for the sauce.
Shred carrots for the sauce as well.
Make the sauce: Heat some oil in wide sided sauté pan or Dutch oven over medium heat; add one chopped onion and shredded carrots.
Cook for 5 minutes, until softened. Then add tomato paste and mix with the vegetables, continue cooking, add more oil if the skillet gets dry.
Pour in tomato puree, season with salt, Aleppo pepper.
Then add 1 teaspoon sugar, it helps to lower the acidity of any tomato-based sauce.
Add butter and let it melt; cook the sauce for 5 minutes.
Make meatballs: Chop another onion for the meatballs. Sauté it in a small skillet with a little oil, seasoned with salt and pepper until golden but not burned, about 4-5 minutes.
Add cooked onion to the meat.
You can use one or two eggs in this recipe.
Add cooked rice, eggs, season with salt and pepper. Make a small patty and fry it in the same pan to check for seasoning, adjust if needed.
Mix everything to combine.
Using an ice-cream scooper or your hands roll 2-inch meatballs and place them into the sauce.
Ladle the sauce over the meatballs, lower the heat, cover the Dutch oven with the lid and cook for 20 minutes.
To serve, scoop some of the sauce on the bottom of each plate, top with two meatballs, shave some cheese on top. Sprinkle with parsley and extra pepper. Enjoy!
Bon Appétit!Svitlana
Russian Meatballs with Rice in Tomato Sauce
recipe details
Serves 6Ingredients
For the meatballs- ½ lb. minced veal
- ½ lb. minced pork
- 1/3 cup sushi rice, cooked
- 2 eggs
- 2 small carrots, shredded
- 2 small onions, chopped
- 2 tablespoons spicy tomato paste
- 1 lb. tomato puree
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- Aleppo pepper, to taste
- Kosher salt
- Vegetable oil
- Parmesan cheese
- 1 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped
- Shallow Dutch oven or non-stick sauté pan
Directions
- Make the sauce: Heat some oil in wide sided sauté pan or Dutch oven over medium heat; add one chopped onion and shredded carrots. Cook for 5 minutes, until softened. Then add tomato paste and mix it with the vegetables, continue cooking, add more oil if the skillet gets dry. Pour in tomato puree, season with salt, Aleppo pepper and sugar. Then add butter and let it melt; cook the sauce for 5 minutes.
- Make meatballs: Meanwhile, sauté the second chopped onion in a small skillet with a little oil, seasoned with salt and pepper until golden but not burned, about 4-5 minutes. Add cooked onion to the meat; add cooked rice, eggs, season with salt and pepper. Mix everything to combine. Make a small patty and fry it in the same pan to check for seasoning, adjust if needed. Using an ice-cream scooper or your hands roll 2-inch meatballs and place them into the sauce. Ladle the sauce over the meatballs, lower the heat, cover the Dutch oven with the lid and cook for 20 minutes.
These look so delicious and easy! I’m sure my kids will love them. Thanks so much for sharing.
Hi Katia, Happy Healthy New Year! I grew up eating these meatballs, they are really wonderful & you can play with meat combination like ground chicken & pork or chicken & turkey, as long as you use sushi rice, they come out fantastic!!!! Bon appetite!
Thanks so much!
I remember as a lad at Grammar school back in England, the school canteen serving these up. (Those were pre-Thatcher days, when ordinary kids were looked after by the state.) Since then the obvious had escaped my attention… The rice is mixed INTO the balls…Since then I’ve frequently made Swedish meat balls, Danish frikadeller, Boller i karry (balls in curry), “Hakkebøffer” (with minced beef). etc etc I now realise why I have had such fond memories of those “fluffier” meatballs!
All the best, Brian.