Sunday, October 26, 2014

Sausage Balls in Mustard Sauce

Flavorful sausage balls swimming in a creamy sauce that hints of mustard.  Top it all with a scattering of chopped chives and you'll want to grab a skewer and shove one in your mouth quicker than you can say delicious.

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
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.

9 comments:

  1. 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.

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  2. Wow, 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!

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  3. Ha, the look reminds me of Swedish meatballs! This is always a winning dish!

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  4. Oh 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!

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  5. I love that ready-made sausages are used for this dish...what a time saver! Looks delicious.

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  6. These look heavenly! I would definitely use the spoon to catch every drip of that sauce!

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  7. Creamy 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.

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  8. Glad 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).

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