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Beefy Meatballs In Onion Gravy

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Now this one really stirs up some fond nostalgic memories of my mum on a day when she was busy working. She'd reach for a tin of meatballs, you know the ones I mean, they'd sometimes come in a tomato sauce and have an odd kind of texture. I loved them as a child, but now I shudder at the thought. So, here I'm making my home made version with not a tin in sight! A classic English dish with a rich onion gravy that is just delicious. Wonderful served with rice, peas and sweetcorn as a lighter meal option, or, pure indulgent home comfort when served with a creamy smooth mashed potato.

You might note that I'm using breadcrumbs in this recipe, this not only bulks out the meat a little, helping to reduce costs, but, also makes the meatballs softer and easier to work with. Strictly speaking though, you don't have to use them if you don't want to!

Click the Method tab below to see a step by step guide with pictures.

meatballs finished

ingredients

Here's what you need :¬)

serves 4 - 6

for the meatballs

  • 500g Beef mince-20% Fat content preferably
  • 1/2 medium onion very finely diced
  • 2 slices of 1/2-white / 1/2-brown bread crumbed
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1 tsp black pepper
  • 1 egg

for the onion gravy / sauce

  • 1 1/2 medium onions
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 beef OXO™ stock cube crumbled
  • 1 veg OXO™ stock cube crumbled
  • 2 Tbls Bisto™ gravy powder
  • 1 Tbls plain flour
  • 2 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp english mustard powder
  • 1 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
  • 1/2 Tblsp of Bovril™ high protein beef paste
  • 1 pint cold water
  • Salt to taste

method

First of all, you want to prepare the meat and create some cylindrical shaped meat rolls wrapped tightly in ClingFilm™, then pop them in the fridge for a while so that they firm up and the meat sticks together, if you can leave them overnight that would be perfect and as a bonus; you will have half of the job done ready for the next day! When ready, you simply chop the meat rolls into equal size portions and form into 2.5cm (1 inch in old money!) balls ready for browning. Chilling the rolls makes them far easier to work with, and they won't fall apart when you start to cook them!

With your meatballs browned, you can then move on to the onion gravy, which is pretty simple to make.

So, without further ado, here's the step-by-step guide:

prepare the meat

  1. Put your mince beef into a large mixing bowl
  2. Sprinkle salt and pepper over the mince
  3. Mash it all together with your fist
  4. Add the finely chopped onions & breadcrumbs
  5. Mash together with your fist again
  6. Add the egg and combine with your fist
  7. Lay some sheets of ClingFilm™ onto a board
  8. Put a line of the beef mixture onto the ClingFilm™
  9. Roll the ClingFilm™ over the meat
  10. Roll into an evenly round sausage shape
  11. Place in the fridge for as long as you can

make the dish

  1. Take the ClingFilm™ off the rolls of meat
  2. Cut the meat roll into 2.5cm pieces
form the meatballs
roll out meatballs
  1. Roll each piece into a ball
  2. Heat a large heavy based pan to med-high heat
  3. Brown the meatballs in three batches*

*Don't overload the pan with meatballs or you will reduce the heat of the pan and your meatballs will boil instead of frying

brown the meatballs
browning meatballs
  1. Set each batch aside to rest when they are browned off
browned meatballs resting
browning meatballs
  1. Add the sliced onions & bay leaf to the hot pan
  2. Brown for about 20 mins
browning the onions
browning onions

While the onions are doing their thing, grab a jug, then:

  1. Combine all the gravy ingredients with a little water
  2. Whisk together while adding the rest of the water
  3. Set your onions aside with the meatballs when brown
  4. Pour the contents of the jug into the hot pan
  5. Stir continuously until thickened

As soon as the gravy starts to shine

  1. Return the onions & meatballs to the pan
  2. Cover & simmer gently for 20 mins
  3. Remove the lid for another 10 mins to reduce the sauce
meatballs simmering
meatballs simmering
  1. Check the seasoning and/or reduce further if needed
  2. Taste! Taste! Taste! To get it to perfection!

You should now have a thick rich beefy onion gravy, don't forget to take the bay leaf out before serving!

meatballs in onion gravy
meatballs finished
serving suggestion
meatballs simmering
rice, peas & sweetcorn

A proper serving of meatballs! I mean, come on now! We're not serving up a mini "5 ingredient meal" here! Budget? Yes! Portion reduction? No way José! If you can only afford to eat one decent dinner a day, let's make it a Wellington boot filler!