I served these sausage balls in a heated cast iron serving dish as an appetizer. I've also served them over egg noodles as a main course. I can't decide which I like better. It's hard to beat a meatball as an appetizer and anything over pasta is always a hit so either way is a win as far as I'm concerned.
Sausage Balls in Mustard Sauce
via The Guardian
by Nigel Slater
Serves 4
The recipe
Remove the skins from 1 pound of really good-quality butcher's sausages.
Roll the sausage meat into about 24 balls, slightly smaller than a golf
ball. Warm a nonstick frying pan over a moderate heat and cook the balls
until they color, turn them over and continue cooking until they are
evenly browned. Tip away any excess fat and pour in 2 cups of beef stock.
Bring to the boil, allow to reduce a little then pour in one cup of
double cream and stir in a tablespoon of Dijon mustard. Season with salt
and pepper and continue cooking for 15-20 minutes. Remove the balls to
warm dishes, turn the heat up under the sauce – there will be lots of it
– and let it reduce a little. It will not thicken. Pour the sauce over
the meat balls and serve with a fork and a spoon for the sauce. A few
snipped chives can be added if you wish.
The Trick
Get a good sausage.
Perhaps something with plenty of parsley and pepper in it. To peel
them, slit the skin from one end to the other with a knife, pull the
skin apart and squeeze the filling out into a bowl. Beef up the
seasoning a bit if you like, with some chopped thyme, crushed garlic,
black pepper or grated parmesan. Use a good-quality stock.
The Twist
Add
chopped dill to the meatballs and sauce. Use crème fraîche instead of
cream. For a less-rich dish, leave out the cream. For a milder version
use chicken stock instead of beef. Serve with wide ribbon noodles, such
as pappardelle. Instead of using shop-bought sausage meat, season plain
sausage meat as you wish. Try juniper, thyme, garlic, cumin or ground
cardamom.
Yummo - this dish is just calling my name, Kim. As an appetiser or over noodles - either way, I would find this irresistible, and I just know how much you and your family would have loved this. A creamy mustard sauce makes just about anything better, but some really good artisan sausages made into little meatballs would be just heaven.
ReplyDeleteWow, this sounds and looks so delicious! Serving it over pasta sounds really good! This would certainly be a hit at a real potluck! If served as an appetizer, I'll bring my empty plate over! Yums!
ReplyDeleteHa, the look reminds me of Swedish meatballs! This is always a winning dish!
ReplyDeleteOh my goodness! You're so right! Give me a toothpick and I'd be standing over the bowl at the potluck just stabbing and gobbling! These are being bookmarked for the next family party, Kim!
ReplyDeleteThese sound delicious!
ReplyDeleteI love that ready-made sausages are used for this dish...what a time saver! Looks delicious.
ReplyDeleteThese look heavenly! I would definitely use the spoon to catch every drip of that sauce!
ReplyDeleteCreamy mustard sauce sounds good to me. I may have to try it with some veggie meatballs. ;-) (Not the same I know!) I think it would be hard to pick a favorite way to serve these--although food on sticks or toothpicks always gets points for fun.
ReplyDeleteGlad to see that I'm not the only one to love mustard! The rest of my family are mustard haters...and cilantro. I don't even know why I stay here (ha ha).
ReplyDelete