Game Meatballs

Game Meatballs

by Shopify API

Game meatballs in bean and red wine sauce, by José Souto

Preheat the oven to 180°C/160°C fan/375°F/gas mark 4.

Put the game mince, sausage meat, minced bacon, chestnuts and thyme into a bowl. Mix well and season.  Divide the meat into 50g meatballs – you should get 30.

Fry the meatballs in 30g of butter and a little oil to give them a bit of colour but don’t cook them any further. Remove from the pan and put on a plate on the side.  Put the remaining butter into an ovenproof casserole and fry the onion until soft and golden brown, then add the garlic and cook for another 3 minutes. Add the flour, stir well and cook for a further 5 minutes, stirring gently all the while. Now add the red wine and stock, stirring continuously until you have a smooth, light sauce. Add in the meatballs, cover with a lid and put in the oven for 10 minutes. Then, mix in the beans and put back in the oven. Cook uncovered for a further 8 minutes.

Remove from the oven and serve with mashed potatoes or fresh bread.

Recipe created by José Souto, image by Steve Lee. 

The Eat Game Awards aim to celebrate the best of wild British produce by recognizing great culinary achievements and other contributions to the cooking and eating of game.  They offer those less familiar with game the chance to get a better understanding of how to cook it and the confidence to include it in their regular culinary repertoires.

Learn more about the Eat Game Awards here.

Ingredients

SERVES 6 (5 per person)

Prep time: 35 minutes

Cooking time: 40 to 55 minutes

700g mixed game mince

350g sausage meat

350g minced bacon or gammon

100g chestnuts, roughly chopped

2 sprigs fresh thyme, leaves removed, stalks discarded (the yield will be approx. 2 tsp)

2 onions, finely sliced

2 garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped

35g plain flour

100ml red wine

1.5 litre dark chicken stock or game stock

125g cooked cannellini beans

125g cooked kidney beans

60g butter

Vegetable oil

Maldon salt flakes

Freshly ground black pepper