I love meatballs. And if anyone tells you you can’t have a good meatball without breadcrumbs, they are dead wrong. All it takes is a few good spices, a generous sprinkle of sea salt, and a little science experiment involving cream of tartar and baking soda.
The strong ethnic flavors in these meatballs pair perfectly with steamed veggies or mashed cauliflower, which makes for a simple-to-make but not simple-tasting dinner. Perfect.
Czech Meatballs & Veggies
By Stephani Jenkins, guest contributor
Ingredients:
2 pounds ground beef or pork (buy sustainably farmed organic meat here)
1/4 cup fresh parsley, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon whole grain mustard
1 tablespoon pepper (buy organic non-irradiated herbs and spices here)
1/2 tablespoon sea salt (buy sea salt here)
1 1/2 teaspoons anise (buy organic non-irradiated herbs and spices here)
1 teaspoon paprika (buy organic non-irradiated herbs and spices here)
1 teaspoon cream of tartar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons warm water
Directions:
Place meat and rest of the ingredients in a large bowl. In a small bowl stir together cream of tartar, baking soda, and water until dissolved. Add to the bowl of meat and spices then stir everything together until thoroughly combined.
With wet hands, roll into tablespoon-sized balls, place on a baking sheet, and bake for 20 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Serve over steamed broccoli or mashed cauliflower.
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What does the baking soda/cream of tartar do?
Anise Seed or powder? Sweet or Smoked Paprika? Sorry.. But I want to get it right, they sound luscious!
Yes, i was wondering about the necessity of the baking soda and cream of tartar as well.
Caraway seeds – you are definitely missing the caraway seeds. My husband is Czech and I swear his mom puts caraway in EVERYTHING. I happen to like the flavor (though not in everything). I’m yet to find ground caraway which I think would work very well here. For the meat I would do half pork/half beef. I find that gives the best flavor and fat content.
Baking soda and cream of tarter together create baking powder, so they would give a leavening effect, creating a light meatball. I have never tried it, but I’m excited to see how it works. I make meatballs without breadcrumbs, but they are quite dense.