Meatballs with Creamy Wild Mushroom Sauce
These are not weeknight meatballs—these are special-occasion, fancy-dinner-party, holiday-worthy meatballs. Here, I’ve riffed on a classic Sicilian meatball, but replaced the dried currants with chopped medjool dates. The concentrated brown sugar sweetness of the dates is so good with the earthy wild mushrooms, toasty pine nuts and the sharp bite of pecorino. Serve them with crusty bread, on top of cooked pasta or mashed potatoes, or alongside cheesy polenta finished with copious amounts of black pepper.
Serves 4
Meatballs
Extra-virgin olive oil, for brushing
2 slices white sandwich bread
¾ cup whole milk or water
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
½ cup finely grated pecorino cheese
½ cup finely chopped parsley
¼ cup toasted pine nuts
3 Rancho Meladuco medjool dates, pitted and finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely grated
1 Tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage leaves
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
1 pound ground beef
½ pound ground pork
Mushroom Sauce
3 Tablespoons unsalted butter
1 shallot, minced
10 ounces wild mushrooms, torn into bite-size pieces
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
¼ cup cognac or dry white wine
3 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
2½ cups chicken stock or low-sodium broth
½ cup heavy cream
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
Fried sage leaves, for garnish (Optional, see Note)
Cooked pasta or creamy polenta, for serving
Make the meatballs Preheat the oven to 425°F and lightly brush a rimmed baking sheet with olive oil.
In a medium bowl, soak the bread in the milk until it is completely saturated. Squeeze out the liquid and transfer the bread to a large bowl. Discard the milk.
Using the back of a spoon, mash the bread into a paste. Add the eggs, pecorino, parsley, pine nuts, dates, garlic, sage, 1½ teaspoons of salt and a few grinds of pepper and gently mix to combine. Mix in one-quarter of the meat (combining just a small amount of meat in the beginning makes it easier to incorporate the rest without overmixing). Add the remaining beef and pork and mix well, being careful not to overwork the mixture.
Form a scant ½ cup of the meat mixture into a large meatball and transfer to the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining meat. You should have 8 to 10 large meatballs. Bake the meatballs until well browned underneath, about 12 minutes. Using a stiff metal spatula, flip the meatballs. They should have a crispy browned crust on the bottom. Return the meatballs to the oven and bake until they are browned on the second side and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of each one registers 160°, 5 to 7 minutes more.
Make the mushroom sauce In a large deep sauté pan or braiser, melt the butter. Cook the butter over moderate heat until it smells toasty and is lightly browned, about 3 minutes. Add the shallot and cook over moderately-high heat, stirring occasionally, until translucent, about 1 minute. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until tender and browned, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Deglaze the pan with the cognac, scraping up any browned bits with your spoon. Cook over moderately-high heat until the liquid has almost evaporated, about 2 minutes.
Sprinkle the flour over the mushrooms and mix until it is fully saturated. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until the sauce has thickened, about 5 minutes. Add the heavy cream and lemon zest and season with salt and pepper.
Arrange the meatballs in the sauce and simmer for 5 minutes. Spoon the meatballs and sauce over cooked pasta or polenta, or transfer the meatballs to a platter and spoon the mushroom sauce over the top. Garnish with fried sage leaves, if using, and a couple grinds of pepper. Serve right away.
NOTE For the fried sage leaves, heat ¼ cup of olive oil in a small skillet over moderate heat. Add 3 to 4 large sage leaves at a time and cook until crisp, about 5 seconds.