classic meatballs capers (Print)
Traditional meatballs in caper sauce bring rich, creamy flavor using familiar ingredients everyone loves.
# Ingredients:
→ Meatballs
01 -
1 tablespoon butter (for softening onions)
02 -
0.25 teaspoon grated nutmeg
03 -
0.5 teaspoon white pepper
04 -
1 teaspoon salt
05 -
2 tablespoons fresh parsley, chopped
06 -
2 medium eggs
07 -
1 big onion, chopped up small
08 -
150 ml warm milk
09 -
1 stale white bun or 3 slices sandwich bread
10 -
500 g ground meat (half beef, half pork)
→ Cooking Broth
11 -
1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
12 -
1 teaspoon salt
13 -
1 stick celery
14 -
1 carrot, roughly chopped
15 -
1 small onion, halved
16 -
3-4 black peppercorns
17 -
1 bay leaf
18 -
1.5 liters water
→ Caper Sauce
19 -
1 tablespoon fresh parsley for topping
20 -
Salt and white pepper to taste
21 -
1 tablespoon lemon juice
22 -
1 egg yolk
23 -
2 tablespoons caper brine
24 -
3-4 tablespoons capers
25 -
100 ml heavy cream
26 -
600 ml reserved broth from meatballs
27 -
40 g flour
28 -
40 g butter
→ Traditional Sides
29 -
Vinegar and sugar for the beets
30 -
Butter and parsley for the potatoes
31 -
300 g cooked beetroot
32 -
800 g potatoes (waxy)
# Steps:
01 -
Pop the meatballs into the warm caper sauce and let them soak for five minutes. Sprinkle with parsley, and dish up alongside some salted potatoes and beetroot.
02 -
Whisk the egg yolk with a couple spoonfuls of the hot sauce, then slowly stir it into your caper sauce. Don't let it boil now.
03 -
Mix in cream, capers, and their brine. Taste and tweak with salt, white pepper, and lemon juice.
04 -
Bit by bit, add 600 ml strained broth to the roux while stirring. Bring it to a boil, then let it bubble away for ten minutes over medium heat.
05 -
Melt butter in a pot, then stir in the flour. Cook it for two or three minutes while mixing, but don't let it turn brown.
06 -
Scoop out the meatballs with a slotted spoon and keep them warm. Strain the broth through a fine sieve and save it.
07 -
Slide the meatballs gently into the just-barely-bubbling broth. Drop the heat and let them hang out for twenty minutes with a lid on. Make sure it doesn't boil hard.
08 -
Fill a big pot with water, toss in bay leaf, peppercorns, onion, carrot, celery, salt and white wine vinegar. Bring to a boil, then let it simmer quietly for ten minutes.
09 -
With wet hands, form 12–16 even-sized balls. Keep them light, don't pack too tight.
10 -
Combine the ground meat, squeezed bread, sautéed onion, eggs, parsley, salt, white pepper, and nutmeg in a bowl. Stir everything until it's just sticking together and fluffy.
11 -
Chop up the onion and cook it in a tablespoon butter until it's see-through. Let it cool down a bit after.
12 -
Break up the old bread, pour over warm milk, and let it soak for fifteen minutes. After that, squeeze out the extra milk.
# Notes:
01 -
If you want to get things ready ahead, you can make the meatballs a day before and gently warm them up in the sauce. Don't skip the fresh parsley for both looks and flavor.