‘New York’ muntjac meatballs
Delicious with any type of venison mince. Can be served as a starter with bread or a main with pasta.
Ingredients
- 400 ml tomato sauce
- green sauce to garnish
- 500 grams venison mince
- 250 grams ricotta
- 1 handful finely chopped parsley
- 75 grams grated parmesan cheese
- 2 cloves finely chopped garlic cloves
Tomato sauce
- 2 tins chopped tomatoes
- 3 finely diced banana shallots
- 1 finely chopped red chilli
- 1 large glug extra virgin olive oil
- 1 finely chopped rosemary sprig
- 4 crushed garlic cloves
- 1 splash white wine
- salt and pepper
Green sauce
- 1 large handful roughly chopped rocket
- 1 large handful roughly chopped coriander
- 1 large handful roughly chopped flat leaf parsley
- 1 large handful roughly chopped mint
- 1 large handful roughly chopped basil
- 1 finely chopped banana shallot
- 2 finely chopped garlic cloves
- 1 lemon, juice and zest
- salt and pepper
- extra virgin olive oil
Instructions
- Make the tomato sauce and green sauce ahead of time. They can both be frozen in batches and used with many venison dishes.
- Thoroughly mix the venison, cheese, salt and pepper, parsley and garlic until evenly combined.
- Roll the mix between your hands to form 5cm balls. Place on a plate ready for cooking.
- Heat 400ml of tomato sauce in a pan and add the meatballs (do not sear the meatballs, place in the tomato sauce raw). Simmer on a low heat for 45-60 minutes.
- Place 2 to 3 meatballs in a dish, spoon over some of the tomato sauce and garnish with the green sauce.
- Grate a little parmesan cheese over and serve.
Tomato sauce
- Add the oil and shallots to a pan and sweat on a medium heat without browning.
- Add the garlic, chilli and rosemary and cook for 1 minute. Add the white wine and cook for another 2 minutes.
- Add the tomatoes and cook for around 1 hour. Season to taste.
Green sauce
- Mix the roughly chopped greens with the garlic, shallot and lemon zest. Add the lemon juice and plenty of olive oil.
- Blitz in a blender to make a thick, green sauce. Season with plenty of salt and pepper.
Notes
Make a batch of the tomato sauce ahead of time and freeze in batches- it can be used for the pizza recipe and many other pasta dishes. The green sauce is a delicious, punchy addition to grilled meats.
This recipes is supplied by Joe Harding from Farming The Wild.
