Ricotta Meatballs in Creamy White Wine Sauce

Today I felt like a contestant in that popular show from the Food Network - Chopped. I had some left-over ingredients which needed to be used up but they seemed to be an odd assortment. Initially, I felt like it would be weird to merge them in one dish, much like in Chopped (though perhaps not as extreme) where contestants are supposed to come with a yummy dish using a medley of ingredients which you don't normally put together. That was my challenge for the day - how to use in one dish a few pieces of sun-dried tomatoes, a little wine, two types of cheeses and ground beef.

I must admit I did a shortcut and asked Google to help me a little. I searched for the key ingredients and found a recipe that has all of the above - isn't that amazing? What followed next was a bit of tweaking the recipe here and there and incorporating other ingredients not in the original recipe to suit my family's taste. The verdict - it was wholeheartedly approved by the family. How can you say no to a meatballs recipe that not only has 2 kinds of cheeses in it but also some wine and cream for a sauce! I certainly couldn't say no and neither did they! Please enjoy and hope you like it, too. :)

Ingredients

1 Tablespoon Butter
2 Tablespoons Olive Oil
3 Garlic Cloves
1 lb Ground Beef
1/2 cup Ricotta Cheese
1/2 cup grated Parmesan Cheese
1 Egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup Sundried Tomatoes, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon Garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon Salt, or to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground Pepper, or to taste
1-2 Tablespoons all purpose Flour
1 cup dry White wine
1/2 cup heavy or double Cream

Procedure

In a large bowl combine the ground beef, ricotta cheese, parmesan cheese, egg, sun-dried tomatoes, garlic powder and salt and pepper. Use your hands to mix everything well. Shape the mixture into balls the size of golf balls (about 16 pieces).

Gently roll the meatballs in flour to coat them lightly; shake-off the excess.

Melt the butter in oil in a large and heavy-bottomed skillet or pan using low-to-medium heat. Saute the garlic for about 1-2 minutes. Remove the garlic cloves when they turn brown.  Fry the meatballs just until they are browned all over.

Pour in the wine, increase the heat a little and let it reduce to about half. Add the cream and let simmer until the sauce has thickened. Adjust the seasoning, if necessary. Serve immediately. We had it with rice and some steamed veggies on the side. But it would be yummy with a piece of bread, too - handy to mop up the sauce or serve it over pasta. Enjoy!

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