The very first time I told my husband that we’d be having hedgehogs for dinner he looked at me funny. I bet he thought that I finally had a breakdown and need to take a few days (weeks, months) to stay home and get better. Well, I had to promise him that I was, in fact, totally fine and I did not go on a rampage hunting hedgehogs in the middle of the night.
So, before I begin, let me state here that no hedgehogs have been harmed during cooking of this recipe!!
Hedgehogs – what are they? Well, they are simply meatballs with rice. My guess is that when meat cooks and shrinks, the rice pops out of the meat and the resulting meatballs resemble spiky hedgehogs. This is just a guess, but never mind the name. These are really delicious and a great way to use up some leftover rice as well as make something different.
Traditionally these meatballs are panfried, but I prefer baking them for a few reasons. One, I use less oil this way. Two, it’s a lot easier to just place a whole tray of meatballs in the oven and forget about them instead of panfrying them in batches, turning them, checking for doneness etc. Oven – convenient, stove – not so much. Whenever I can, I like using the oven for cooking!!
These meatballs are very simple, yet delicious and filling because of the rice. Serve them with a simple salad or steamed vegetables. I had them last time with my Easy Tomato Sauce and the combination was scrumptious!!
Meatballs with Rice aka Hedgehogs
Ground meat – 750g *
Cooked rice – 300g (1.5 cups)
Spices to taste… I used Mrs. Dash No Salt Original Blend – 2 teaspoons
Garlic salt – 1/2 teaspoon
Onion, very finely minced – 1/2 medium – 1.5 teaspoons
- Preheat oven to 375F.
- In a large bowl, mix together ground meat, rice, seasoning and very finely diced onion.
- Shape the mixture into little oval shaped balls similar in shape and size to small kiwi. Flatten them a little bit.
- Place on a baking sheet covered with parchment paper.
- Place the baking sheet into the oven and bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes or until they are cooked through.
- Serve hot with Easy Tomato Sauce.
Comments
* I use different ground meat usually. This time it was a mix of pork and beef. Most times I mis pork and chicken or turkey.
– I don’t use a lot of salt in my cooking, so you may need to increase the amount of salt in this recipe.
Leave a Reply