Authentic Dutch Meatballs

Much larger than an ordinary meatball, this recipe for gehaktballen (Dutch meatballs) makes a delicious entree served in the true fashion of the old world.

No one really knows how the meatball originated, but it must have been some thrifty cook trying to use up the kitchen’s leftovers. The Dutch meatball, a mixture of pork sausage and beef is about 3 times the size of an average spaghetti meatball. This larger Dutch ball is occasionally served with beer as a satisfying snack in Holland pubs. South Holland is just one of the 12 provinces of The Netherlands, so there are variations in how this delicacy is prepared.

My Dutch born friend insists that there is only one way to make proper meatballs (gehaktballen). Handed down over generations, this is just as she learned it from her mother in South Holland, near The Hague.

(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

1 egg
1 med. onion, chopped
1 tsp salt
¼ tsp pepper
1 tsp nutmeg (it is OK to increase nutmeg amount according to how Dutch you are).
1/3 cup milk
1 lb. lean ground beef
½ lb pork sausage (This is always a 2 to 1 ratio, beef to sausage, if you need to make additional servings).
1½ slices of fresh sourdough bread made into crumbs (no crust). Sourdough bread is used because it will not detract from the meat/sausage flavor.

Preparation:

• Whisk egg in bowl, combining with the nutmeg, salt, pepper, and milk. Add in the bread crumbs, spreading them out in bowl. Let it sit and allow bread to absorb the milk.
• Sauté onion with butter in skillet until soft (don’t allow onion to brown). Set cooked onion aside to cool. Keep skillet ready for later use.
• Combine ground beef and broken up sausage in the bowl with the fully saturated bread.

• Add cooled onions to the meat and mix well. Form round balls by hand tightly. This should make about 6 or 7 meatballs.

• Brown the meatballs in the same skillet we used for the onions, now using oil, 3 minutes on each side, until it it brown all around. This will form a crust and keep the balls intact while they are cooking in the oven.

• Put meatballs in a dry 3.5 qt. Dutch oven (a covered sauce pan can be used). Balls should be laid in a single layer. Do not stack the balls on top of one another.
• Put 2 cups of water in the still warm skillet, loosening any remaining pieces of meat & onion. Pour this skillet water into Dutch oven to cover balls about half way up. This will allow the balls to cook in their own jus. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes. Do not allow water to boil too vigorously.

Serve meatballs with mashed potatoes and steamed cauliflower. Brussels sprouts or any other cruciferous vegetable of your choice are also appropriate. Make a light gravy from the Dutch oven leavings for the potatoes. Thicken gravy with a tablespoon of tomato paste. Sprinkle nutmeg to taste on the cauliflower and over the potatoes.