Meatballs in Mushroom Sauce with Buckwheat and Sauerkraut Salad
Meatballs are very popular in Poland and people who have lived here long enough are surely familiar with their taste. There is a wide variety of groats and sauces to accompany them and everyone has their favourite. In our recipe, the meatballs are combined with roasted buckwheat and a delicious mushroom sauce, accompanied by a refreshing sauerkraut salad.
Ingredients
| 2 SERVINGS | 4 SERVINGS | |
|---|---|---|
| MEATBALLS | ||
| – ground pork | 300 g | 600 g |
| – bread roll | 1 | 1 |
| – onion | 1/2 | 1/2 |
| – granulated garlic | 1 tsp | 2 tsp |
| – breadcrumbs | 1 tbsp (heaped) | 2 tbsp (heaped) |
| – egg | 1 M | 1 L |
| SAUCE | ||
| – mushrooms | 3 | 6 |
| – dried bay boletes | 10 g | 20 g |
| – onion | 1 small | 1 medium |
| SALAD | ||
| – sauerkraut | 125 g | 250 g |
| – apple | 1 small | 1 medium |
| – carrot | 1 small | 1 medium |
| – lemon | 1 | 1 |
| – onion | 1/2 | 1/2 |
| ROASTED BUCKWHEAT GROATS | 200 g | 400 g |
You will need
salt, pepper, sugar, vegetable or olive oil, milk, wheat flour, deep plate, bowl, small bowl, 2 pots, frying pan, grater, strainer.
*** Where necessary, in the meal preparation instructions, we provide ingredient quantities for 2 servings (4 servings). ***
| NUTRIENTS | 100g | 1 SERVING |
|---|---|---|
| Energy | 494.0 kJ | 3392.8 kJ |
| Energy | 117.8 kcal | 809.3 kcal |
| Fat | 2.9 g | 19.6 g |
| of which saturates | 0.9 g | 6.3 g |
| Carbohydrate | 16.3 g | 112.2 g |
| of which sugars | 2.6 g | 17.9 g |
| Added Sugar | 0.0 g | 0.0 g |
| Protein | 6.9 g | 47.3 g |
| Salt | 0.3 g | 1.8 g |
Recipe
1.
Sprinkle the bay boletes with 1 heaped teaspoon of salt, pour boiling water and leave for 10 minutes. Soak ½ (1) bread roll in water. Peel both onions – cut one into small cubes (use half for meatballs, the other half for sauerkraut salad). Cut the second onion into thicker pieces or half circles. You will use it to make a delicious mushroom sauce.
Peel the mushrooms and cut them into medium-sized pieces.
2.
Glaze half of the finely chopped onion in a pan in 1 tbsp (2 tbsp) of oil for about 2 minutes. Squeeze the bread roll from the water – it will crumble in your hands and trickle through your fingers, but try to collect as much pulp as possible and do not worry about the consistency; this is how it should be. Add the glazed onion, drained bread, egg, spices and breadcrumbs to the minced meat, and then knead the mixture with your hands. Make 6 smaller or 4 larger (12 smaller or 8 larger) balls.
Drain the bay boletes from the water and rinse a few times with cold water until they are clean. Drain them and cut them into pieces.
3.
Heat 3 tbsp oil in a frying pan, then fry the meatballs for 3-4 minutes on each side until they turn golden brown. Place the meatballs in a saucepan. In the same frying pan, glaze the onion semicircles (for about 2 minutes), add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper and simmer for 3 minutes.
Then put the mushrooms and onions into a saucepan with meatballs. Add half a litre of water and stew it all together for about 10-15 minutes. This is your Mushroom Sauce.
4.
Boil 500 ml (1 litre) water with 1 tsp (1 tbsp) of salt. Pour the buckwheat groats into the boiling water and simmer for about 15 minutes, until the groats have absorbed all or most of the water.
Drain the cooked groats on a sieve, pour hot water over them and put them back into the warm pot in which they were cooking and cover them with a lid to keep them warm.
5.
Squeeze the sauerkraut from excess juice. Peel the carrot and apple, then grate them on a coarse grater and add them to the cabbage. Cut the lemon in half and squeeze the juice out of it. Add 1 tsp (1 tbsp) of lemon juice, salt, pepper, sugar to taste and 1 tbsp (2 tbsp) of oil. Add the second half of the finely chopped onion and mix everything thoroughly with your hands. Put the ready-made salad aside.
Prepare the mixture to thicken the sauce – Add ½ tbsp (1 tbsp) of flour and 3 tbsp (6 tbsp) of milk into a small bowl and mix with a fork until a smooth, uniform liquid is obtained.
Take 2 tbsp of sauce from the saucepan with boiling meatballs, add them to your mixture and stir. Then pour your mixture into the saucepan with meatballs and mix gently until the sauce thickens. Take the meatballs off the heat.
6.
Place the buckwheat and meatballs on flat plates, pour the mushroom sauce and add a portion of sauerkraut salad. Enjoy your meal!
P.S. Mix the remaining lemon juice with water and enjoy a refreshing lemonade!
*You can leave the remaining bread roll on a plate for 3 days to dry, and then grate them into breadcrumbs on a small-mesh grater.
