Meat Balls with Hidden Brussels Sprouts

Name: Meat Balls with Hidden Brussels Sprouts
Cuisine: American
Ingredients: 10 Brussels sprouts; 250 grams Ground meat for making sausages; 1/2 Onion; 1 clove Garlic; 50 ml White wine; 1/4 Red bell pepper; 1/2 bunch Fresh parsley; 2 tbsp Panko; 1 1/2 tbsp Milk; 1/2 Egg; 200 ml ■Tomato sauce; 200 ml ■White wine; 200 ml ■Water; 1 ■Soup stock cube

cookpad.japan @cookpad_jp

I wanted people who hate Brussels sprouts to eat them, so I hid them inside meatballs for a reverse-cabbage roll. My family ate up the Brussels sprouts without even realizing it, so I've repeated this recipe several times before settling on this version.

*I used ground sausage meat to make this, but you can use sausages as well, or use ground pork and 2 slices of finely chopped bacon with salt, pepper, garlic powder, and your favorite spices.
*As for the tomato sauce, you can use store-bought, homemade, or even tomato purée. When using purée, add sautéed onions and garlic, sugar, and miso to round out the flavors. Recipe by sunny.

cookpad.japan @cookpad_jp

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Ingredients

Meatballs
10Brussels sprouts
250 gramsGround meat for making sausages
1/2Onion
1 cloveGarlic
50 mlWhite wine
1/4Red bell pepper
1/2 bunchFresh parsley
2 tbspPanko
1 1/2 tbspMilk
1/2Egg
Sauce
200 ml■Tomato sauce
200 ml■White wine
200 ml■Water
1■Soup stock cube

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Steps

1

Cut a cross-shaped notch into the bottoms of the Brussels sprouts, and boil. I keep boiled ingredients in the freezer, so I used defrosted ones this time.
2

Finely chop the onion. Smash the garlic and remove the sprouting part inside. Heat olive oil in a frying pan, and sauté the onions over medium heat. Add garlic once the onions have become transparent. Add 50 ml of white wine, cover with a lid, and simmer to reduce. Let cool once the moisture has mostly evaporated.
3

While the onions are cooling, prepare the sauce. Please use your favorite tomato sauce. Add the tomato sauce, white wine, water, soup stock cube, and bring to a boil after the stock cube has dissolved. Turn the heat off.
4

Add panko to a bowl, and sprinkle with the milk. Finely chop the bell pepper and parsley, and add to the bowl. Put the ground meat and egg at this point, and everything together well.
5

Add the cooled ingredients from Step 2 to Step 4, and mix again (The mixture in the photo doesn't include parsley, so it will actually be greener).
6

Form the meatballs. Make a ball about the same size as the Brussels sprouts, place in the palm of your hand, and firmly press in a sprout (Refer to photo). The meat mixture is covering the sprout but there wasn't enough, so I added more, covering all exposed areas, and rolled into a ball.
7

Roll all of the balls the same way, as shown. Heat the pan with the sauce over medium heat.
8

In order to seal the flavor of the meat, brown the meatballs in a frying pan before adding to the sauce. Cook 4 at a time in a frying pan with a little oil, rolling them around until browned. Use a spoon to scoop them out, and put them into the pan with the sauce.
9

Transfer all of the meatballs into the pot. Bring the sauce to a boil and then reduce to a low heat, cover with a lid, and simmer gently for about an hour. Turn the meatballs over from time to time.
10

This is after an hour. Let it cool once if you have time, heat it up again - it will become even more delicious as the flavors penetrate the meatballs even more.
11

When you cut into them, the Brussels sprouts are nice and round. It is really soft, so it is easy to eat.