Italian Meatballs

(Can be done with moose, venison, or other red meat)

-2 lbs venison
-⅓ cup breadcrumbs
-½ cup milk
-1 head of garlic
-2 onions
-1 teaspoon salt
-⅓ cup Parmesan cheese
-1 tablespoon herb de provence
-1 teaspoon pepper
-1 tablespoon parsley flakes
-2 eggs
-Tomato sauce
-Bay leaf
-Pasta

Combine milk and bread crumbs and let stand 20 minutes

Finely dice onions and garlic

Combine ⅔ of garlic and onion with venison, salt, pepper, Parmesan, and herbs with eggs and breadcrumbs

Roll into small balls (golf ball size)

Bake 425 for 15 minutes

Saute remaining onion and garlic and then add tomato sauce and bay leaf. Season to taste.  Simmer for 20 minutes.

Add meatballs to tomato sauce.

Serve with pasta.

Dutch Meatball Recipe

Dutch Meatballs Made With Moose Meat and Moose Stock

This recipe can be done with any ground meat and stock.  I learned this recipe from my Mom and it continues to be a huge favourite!


Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground moose
- 1 onion
- 2 slices of bread
- 1 cup of milk
- 2 cups of breadcrumbs
- 2 eggs
- 2 cups of moose stock
- 1/2 cup of margarine
- gehakt spice (specialty dutch meat spice, but can be substituted with nutmeg)
- salt
- pepper

Classic Side Dishes
- Boiled Potatos
- Boiled Spinach

Cooking Instructions
1) Soak the slices of bread in milk. Squeeze out excess milk once fully saturated.
2) Finely dice the onion
3) In a large bowl, combine ground meat with diced onion and milk soaked bread slices.  Season with salt, pepper, and gehakt spice (or nutmeg) to taste.  [Tip: Typically I spread out the mixture to the thickness of a steak 1-1.5 inches and season it as if it were a steak. Don't forget you need twice as much because normally you season both sides of a steak] 
4) Mix thoroughly by hand
5) Roll 7 equally sized balls.  Yes they are huge! Set aside.
6) In a small bowl crack and lightly whisk the eggs
7) In an edged plate, spread out breadcrumbs
8) Roll each meatball in the egg wash and then in the breadcrumbs until fully coated. Set aside.
9) Heat stock on the stove or the microwave until hot
10) On Medium-high heat, in a Dutch oven or large pot melt the margarine and brown the meatballs on all sides.
11) Add stock until the meatballs are 80% covered as shown above.  Add water if required.
12) Reduce heat and simmer for 25 minutes.

Serve with boiled potatoes and boiled spinach.  Mash together the potatoes with the spinach using a fork and form a volcano next to your meatball on the plate.  Fill the volcano with the gravy until it overflows.  Enjoy!