Recipe Friday: Meatballs and Broth Gravy

We needed a bit of comfort food the other day, so I came up with this. I adapted from a recipe that called for canned cream of mushroom soup, and breadcrumbs. With my husband coming down with a sore throat, I wanted something that didn’t contain any junk, only ingredients that would be healthful. (I also plied him with echinacea and elderberry syrup.)

We like to have this over mashed potatoes, but noodles or something else would serve as well.

Bone broth is one of the healthiest foods on the planet. Make lots of it, and use it for soup bases, gravies, anything you can think of.

For more immune-boosting, I added extra cayenne, cumin, and onion (we like onion).

All the ingredients in this recipe are real food. Eat real food, folks, and give up the convenience in preference to health.

Yield: 2-quart casserole
Prep Time: 30 min
Cook Time: 25 min + 45 min to 1 hour

Ingredients:

For the Meatballs:

1 pound                     ground beef, venison, or other meat

1                                  small onion, diced

1/2 cup                       quick (not instant) oatmeal

1                                  egg

                                    sprinklings to taste of spices: paprika, basil, celery seed, cayenne,

                                             cumin

                                    salt to taste

1 tablespoon             Worcestershire sauce

1 tablespoon             tamari sauce

1/2 teaspoon             liquid smoke

1/4 cup                       barbecue sauce

For the Gravy:

2 cups                        bone broth

2 tablespoons           cornstarch mixed with 1/2 cup water

     Serving suggestion:

     hot mashed potatoes

Directions:

Preheat oven to broil at 400°
Mix all meatball ingredients in a large bowl.
Shape into 1-inch meatballs and place on a rimmed baking sheet. This recipe makes 20 – 24 meatballs, depending on size.
Place baking sheet on lower rack of oven and broil for 15 minutes.
Move meatballs to upper oven rack and broil for 5 – 10 more minutes.

In a saucepan, heat the bone broth to simmering.
Turn off broiler; turn on oven to 350°.
Remove meatballs from baking sheet to a 2-quart casserole dish.

Pour a bit of the hot broth onto the baking sheet, and scrape up the drippings.
Stir the cornstarch slurry into the saucepan with the hot broth, stirring constantly until thickened. Add the drippings from the baking sheet into the saucepan, and stir.
Pour the gravy over the meatballs.
Cover the dish and bake at 350° 45 minutes – 1 hr.
Serve over hot mashed potatoes.