Cheesy Beef Meatballs
These egg-free, Cheesy Beef Meatballs are made with cream cheese, then nestled into a rustic vegetable sauce, and draped with melted cheese.
Ingredients
FOR THE MEATBALLS (see note 1 to use shop-bought)
- 110 g cream cheese
- 15 g panko
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 500 g 5% lean mince / ground beef
FOR THE SAUCE
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 onion, roughly diced
- 1 large red pepper (bell), roughly diced
- 400 g tomatoes, roughly diced
- ½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 3 garlic cloves, crushed
- Large pinch of sugar
- Salt & pepper to taste
- 165 g cheddar cheese, grated / shredded
TO SERVE
- White rice or
- Crusty bread or flour tortillas
Instructions
- Add all the meatball ingredients to a medium-large mixing bowl. Mix with your hands until throughly combined. Form meatballs, around 1 ½ inch in diameter and place into a large plate. You should get around 19-20 meatballs.
- Heat the oil a medium-large lidded pan over a medium-high heat. When hot add in the peppers, onion and tomatoes. Fry, stirring often for 8 minutes. Then add in the garlic and cumin and fry for a further minute, stirring.
- Then remove from the heat and use a stick blender to blitz the vegetables into a rustic style sauce. Alternatively, transfer to a food processor/blender, and blend into a smooth sauce and then return to pan. See note 2.
- Stir-through the sugar, salt and black pepper.
- Top with the meatballs in an even layer and give the pot a gentle shake to level them out. Bring to a simmer over a high heat, then reduce heat to low, cover and cook for 10 minutes. Then give the meatballs a gentle stir and cook uncovered for a further 5-10 minutes, until the sauce thickens a little.
- Then gently stir again and sprinkle the cheese over the top evenly and pop the lid back on. Turn the heat to low and leave for a few minutes until the cheese has melted.
Notes
NOTE 1 - If you want to use this sauce with shop bought meatballs, add the 1 teaspoon oregano you would have added to the meatballs, into the sauce at step 4.
NOTE 2 - to achieve a rustic texture, stick blender is the better way to go. Using a blender/food processor is good if you are happy with a smoother sauce.
Baby & Toddler
Omit salt from the cook.
6 - 8 months Give little one a couple meatballs whole. They can hold and take bites, just make sure they don’t put the whole thing in their mouth.
9 months + Cut meatballs into eighths or smash them down well with the back of a fork.
STORAGE
Store leftovers in an air-tight container or resealable food bag in the fridge for up to 3 days (cook day + 2). Leftovers can be frozen, defrost for 24 hours in the fridge. When reheating the leftovers in the microwave, it’s best to cut each meatball in half and stir halfway, until steaming hot all the way through.
Nutrition
Calories: 524kcalCarbohydrates: 15gProtein: 40gFat: 34gSaturated Fat: 17gPolyunsaturated Fat: 2gMonounsaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0.4gCholesterol: 147mgSodium: 474mgPotassium: 868mgFiber: 3gSugar: 6gVitamin A: 2560IUVitamin C: 55mgCalcium: 369mgIron: 4mg
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