The Great American Slow Cooker Book (29 page)

1
Use your clean, dry hands to mix the ground beef, breadcrumbs, cheese, basil, nutmeg, red pepper flakes, and fennel seeds in a large bowl,
until the seasonings are evenly distributed in the ground beef.

2
Form the mixture into meatballs, each about 2 inches in diameter. Set them in the slow cooker; sprinkle the pepper rings around the meatballs.

3
Whisk the tomatoes, tomato paste, vinegar, marjoram, rosemary, oregano, and salt in a second large bowl; pour over the meatballs.

4
Cover and cook on low for 6 hours, or until the meatballs are firm to the touch but nonetheless tender when pierced with a fork.

TESTERS’ NOTES

•
We used ground sirloin because we wanted very little fat in this aromatic sauce. It’s even slightly sour, thanks to both the tomatoes and the vinegar. ground sirloin also gives the meatballs a firmer texture, more knife-and-fork than fork-and-spoon.

•
Work gently with the ground meat mixture. Massage the spices and other ingredients into it without completely destroying its “ground” texture.

ALL-AMERICAN KNOW-HOW
To seed and cut cubanelle peppers into rings, first slice off the stem and about ¼ inch of the pepper below it. Use a small knife or your finger to reach inside and remove the seeds and the white membranes that attach them to the inside walls. Set the pepper on its side on a cutting board and slice it into thin rings about ¼ inch thick. If any of the rings are too large to fit neatly on a spoon, slice these in half for fewer drips on your shirt later.

Serve It Up!
There’s quite a bit of sauce around these meatballs, so serve them in bowls with soup spoons for savoring every drop. Some crusty bread would also be great. (It would be even better if some fell into the bowls.) For a side dish, try chilled blanched green beans dressed with olive oil, balsamic vinegar, minced basil leaves, and sea salt.

1
To make the meatballs, place the ground beef, rice, breadcrumbs, dill, lemon zest, capers, onion powder, salt, and pepper into a large bowl. Mix gently with clean dry hands until mixture is a uniform amalgam. Form this mixture into balls, using a scant ¼ cup per meatball. Set these in the slow cooker; sprinkle the beans around the meatballs.

2
To make the sauce, whisk the broth, flour, tomato paste, lemon juice, salt, and pepper in a large bowl until the flour dissolves. Pour over the meatballs.

3
Cover and cook on low for 6 hours, or until the meatballs are still firm but cooked through and nonetheless tender.

TESTERS’ NOTES

•
These meatballs have a Greek palette. They’re somewhat sour from the lemon zest and capers, but also quite sweet from the beans and rice—and naturally so, with no added sugar in the mix.

•
Make sure the lemon zest is minced into tiny bits. Nobody wants to get a big bite of lemon in a meatball!

•
Jarred capers should always be rinsed before using. They’re loaded with sodium and so can add a shocking amount to a final dish.

•
If you like, add very small cubes of feta to the meatballs. Use a firm block of feta, stored in brine. Form each meatball around a small cube of cheese to hide this little surprise.

ALL-AMERICAN KNOW-HOW
It’s sometimes tough to tell when meatballs are done. You can take one out of the cooker and slice it open to see the texture, but the old-fashioned method still may not be an accurate gauge, given how the slow cooker works. (The meatballs may look pink inside, even when cooked through.) For complete assurance, use an instant-read meat thermometer; a meatball at its center should register 165°F.

INGREDIENTS EXPLAINED
We don’t call for seasoned breadcrumbs in this book because (1) the seasonings are sometimes of inferior quality, (2) the blend is often not in the recipe’s best interest, and (3) there’s sometimes too much salt in the mix. Instead, we prefer plain dry breadcrumbs so we can season the dish properly. By the way, plain breadcrumbs are sometimes labeled “unseasoned breadcrumbs.”

Serve It Up!
Since this is a Greek-inspired recipe, serve it over
Mediterranean Mashed Potatoes:
While they are still hot, mash the potatoes with lots of minced garlic, a little olive oil, some chicken broth, a pinch of salt, and plenty of ground black pepper.

1
Whisk the tomato paste, wine, and vinegar in a shallow bowl.

2
Mix the ground beef, cheese, rice, oregano, thyme, and fennel seeds in a large bowl until the cheese and seasonings are evenly distributed throughout the ground beef.

3
Form the mixture into balls, using about ⅓ cup for each fairly large meatball. As the meatballs are made, roll them in the tomato paste mixture, coating them lightly and evenly, then set them in the slow cooker in a single layer.

4
Once all the meatballs are made, cover the cooker and cook on low for 6 hours, or until the meatballs are firm and cooked through.

TESTERS’ NOTES

•
There’s very little sauce here, just some juices in the slow cooker. In fact, we designed these to be sort of a meatball version of meatloaf.

•
Substitute other cheeses for the provolone—Asiago, Swiss, or even dried Pecorino Romano for a more assertive taste. In fact, packaged shredded provolone may well have to be minced on a cutting board to get the larger threads into tiny bits. If you really want to go easy, try a shredded Italian cheese blend.

SHORTCUTS
Substitute an equivalent amount of Italian seasoning for the oregano, thyme, and crushed fennel seeds. Use a blend with only herbs in the mix, no preservatives or chemical fillers—and perhaps no salt, given how much is in the cheese.

ALL-AMERICAN KNOW-HOW
To form meatballs, dampen your hands occasionally to keep the sticky meat from clumping to your fingers. However, don’t go overboard; you can actually add enough natural moisture from your hands that the meatballs won’t cohere.

Serve It Up!
Serve these meatballs over pasta—or stack them plus any bits of sauce in baked potatoes!

1
Place the breadcrumbs, mushrooms, thyme, salt, and pepper in a large food processor fitted with the chopping blade. Pulse until a
coarse amalgam forms, like wet sand or grainy dough, almost a paste. Scrape down and remove the blade.

2
Put the ground beef, wheat germ, mustard, Worcestershire sauce, onion powder, and garlic powder in a large bowl; mix with your hands (or a wooden spoon) until the wheat germ and other ingredients are spread throughout the ground meat.

3
Press half the meat mixture into a flattened loaf in the slow cooker, leaving a 1-inch gap between the loaf and the cooker’s sides. Top with an even layer of all the breadcrumb stuffing, leaving a ½-inch border around the perimeter of the meat. Flatten out the remaining meat mixture like a top pie crust and place it over the filling. Press down to seal the sides together so that no juices can leak out. Seal any cracks by pressing the meat mixture together.

4
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Dump in the onions and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden, between 5 and 8 minutes, depending on the size of the batch. Stir in the paprika and celery seeds, then spoon the contents of the skillet over the meatloaf. Pour the beef broth on and around the meatloaf, taking care not to displace any onions.