Gordon Ramsay’s Beef Meatballs in Tomato Sauce

These beef meatballs deserve a post. So I am back (and I will probably keep coming back here from time to time, but honestly, I cook less these days, and I also need to go on a diet because all this cooking has made me overeat 😉

But these meatballs really do deserve a post. Apparently the recipe comes from Gordon Ramsay, but of course I had to change it, because I wouldn’t be me otherwise—and I didn’t have all the ingredients either. So I replaced the parsley with dill (I know, I know, it’s not the same, but it really tastes good with dill), and the Cheddar with Emmental. A slight change to the proportions too, and voilà.

Honestly, the idea for these meatballs came about entirely by chance. Dad bought meat for steak tartare; I made it, but there was quite a lot of meat left. So what could I do with it? What can you make with minced beef? Either burgers, but how many burgers can you eat, or… meatballs. The very classic version won: in tomato sauce. But not the kind you remember from school dinners. I promise. And I think Gordon Ramsay does too. I recommend them.

Recipe details:

Preparation time: about 50 minutes

Serves: four

Calories: happy people don’t count calories 😉

Ingredients for Gordon Ramsay’s beef meatballs:

• half a kilogram of minced beef (mine was from the hind leg)
• 2 hen’s eggs
• 1 pink beefsteak tomato (fairly large)
• 6 cloves garlic
• 1 large onion
• 4 shallots
• a sprig of dill
• 5 tablespoons breadcrumbs
• 5 slices Emmental
• a carton of tomato passata
• 300 ml dry white wine
• 1 tablespoon icing sugar (yes, icing sugar 🙂
• freshly ground black pepper
• dried rosemary
• herbes de Provence
• salt
• olive oil

Recipe for beef meatballs in tomato sauce by Gordon Ramsay:

If we organise our work well, after 50 minutes we will have lunch, dinner… simply a delicious beef meal ready. Very delicate in flavour and tender. Just delicious. But let’s begin.

First I added finely chopped shallot, half an onion and 4 cloves of garlic to the minced beef (all finely chopped). I mixed it and added herbes de Provence, dried rosemary, freshly ground pepper and salt. Not too much, just to taste. Then I added torn dill, cheese cut into small pieces, 2 eggs and 5 heaped tablespoons of breadcrumbs. I poured over 3 – 4 tablespoons of olive oil and mixed everything very thoroughly (first with a spoon, then kneaded it by hand).

I shaped the mixture into 14 meatballs (not too big). I placed them on plates (they filled two large plates), covered them with aluminium foil and put them in the freezer.

I turned to making the tomato sauce. In a large frying pan (mine was wok-like), I heated olive oil and fried half an onion, two shallots and 2 cloves of garlic. All chopped, but not as finely as the onions for the meat mixture. I waited until the onion was translucent and poured in half a glass of dry wine. I added the sliced pink beefsteak tomato. I waited for the wine to evaporate a little, then added the passata, about 200 ml of white wine (what remained of the 300 ml), and a tablespoon of icing sugar, and mixed very thoroughly. Let this sauce simmer over a low heat.

At this point, we can take the meatballs out of the freezer. I heated olive oil in another frying pan and added the meatballs. I fried them on each side for about 7 – 10 minutes, until nicely browned. Then I transfer them to the simmering sauce (which needs an occasional stir while the meatballs are frying) and cook them in it for 15 minutes (over a low heat).

After 15 minutes, Ramsay’s delicious beef meatballs are ready. Now you can serve them. With whatever you like. A fresh bread roll will do. Enjoy 🙂

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