Meatball Recipe with Wine Pairing

I am a flavor fanatic, and for the most part, traditional meatballs are  too boring for my taste buds. But these meatballs are different. In fact, this is arguably the best meatball recipe ever.

This meatball recipe with wine pairing has intense flavor because it combines all the usual suspects—onions, garlic and red pepper—with the very fragrant Parmesan cheese, mint, cilantro and coriander. Then it has a jalapeño to amp up the flavor. The result is something you will dream about.

If you’re not used to cooking with coriander, it will become a staple in your kitchen. In a pinch you can use ground coriander, but you’ll love the end result if you buy coriander seeds, and then use a mortar & pestle to crush them yourself. They are incredibly fragrant and can amp up roasted veggies, meat, chicken or even fish.

The hardest part of making what I’ll call the best meatball recipe ever is chopping all of the veggies. If you get your sweetheart to help you and pour a glass of wine during prep, you’ll enjoy the process of making this meatball recipe. Once the vegetables are diced, the rest goes quickly so make sure you have everything ready to go once you start browning the meatballs.

For the bread crumbs, you can use a store brand, but I think it’s just as easy to take a slice of crusty bread, toast it, and then give it a whir in a food processor. If you don’t have one, it’s time to invest. My food processor is one of my must-have kitchen appliances. I also use it for the Parmesan cheese. I like the freshness of chunk cheese versus pre-grated cheese. I cut it into small chunks and give it a whir in my food processor to make it mixable and meltable.

I use a medium cookie dough scoop to shape my meatballs. It gives the perfect proportion every time, making it easier for them to be browned evenly.

The sauce is my favorite part of meatballs, so I’ve made sure this recipe makes a lot of the beautiful bread-sopping sauce. Since it’s more “saucy” that most recipes, this meatball recipe with wine pairing can be served over rice, pasta, mashed potatoes, or even couscous, but I think a think chunk of crusty bread is the perfect pairing. You’ll want to soak up every ounce of tasty sauce. Plus, the wine pairing is important. Keep reading and we’ll get to that.

MEATBALLS
1 lb. ground meat, lean
1/2 cup Parmesan cheese, finely grated
1/3 cup bread crumbs
1 egg
1/3 cup mint, finely diced
1/4 cup onion, finely diced
1 tsp. Crushed red pepper
1 tsp. Salt
2 tsp. Black pepper
1 Tbsp. Coriander seeds, crushed
1/3 cup flour
Extra Virgin Olive oil for fryingSAUCE
1/2 red pepper, finely diced
1 tsp. Coriander, crushed
1/4 cup onion, finely diced
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1/3 cup Cilantro, finely diced
1 Jalapeño, seeds removed & finely diced
1 tsp. Black pepper
1/4 cup butter
1 cup dry white wine
1/2 cup beef broth
Salt to tasteMix meat with all other ingredients except flour. Shape into 1” meatballs and roll in flour. Fry in olive oil for 3 minutes for side (4 sides). Will probably take 2 batches. Remove meatballs from oil. If you have used lean meat, you won’t need to drain the fat.

Add all vegetables to hot olive oil for the sauce and cook over medium heat until soft, about 7 minutes. Mix beef broth in remaining flour and whisk until smooth. Add to vegetable mixture and stir well. Add white wine and butter. Continue to stir over medium heat until thickened. Simmer for about 10 minutes. Add meatballs and simmer for another 5-10 minutes, spooning sauce over the meatballs to keep them wet.

Serve with crusty artisan bread drizzled in olive oil.

Makes 4-6 servings. Takes approximately 1 hour.

This meatball recipe cries for an aromatic big red wine. I paired it with the Symmetry Meritage from Sonoma, and it was the perfect wine and food pairing. This California Meritage is widely distributed and easy to get, but if you can’t find it, pair the meatballs with a fragrant new-world Cabernet Sauvignon or Meritage.

​How can you tell if a wine is fragrant? Smell it! If it lights up your nose like coriander does, then you’re on the right track.