Garlic Basil Pork Meatballs
It is October and National Pork Month is here! Kick Halloween kid costume stress to the
side. Put a pig cut out among the fall mums, pumpkins and gourds you are curb-scaping
your yard or deck with!
This year I would challenge all of us to consider about how
many people the Iowa and American Pork Industry touches. Think about all the
people you know who are involved in growing the feed, taking care of health and
housing and handling the hogs… Now think of the folks involved in hauling live
animals to the processing plants and meat to the grocery store… Now think of the folks in the meat counter
and grocery stores, restaurants and customers who are a part of the consumer
chain that is influenced by what my family produces! We depend on every person
in that chain.
Most of you know that I wholeheartedly support our farm’s
decision to produce pork. I love sorting
hogs in our confinement buildings with my husband and kids. I love that my kids work with piglets all the
way to market hogs and that they understand this fall’s wet weather will impact
our ability to apply both liquid and composted manure to our fields. That
manure will build soil nutrients back up for next year’s crop that will feed
the following year’s hogs. This isn’t a short-sighted process and it takes planning
and thoughtful production to get that pork chop to your plate.
This year the MiniMe reached the critical age of babysitting
without supervision and she also reached the critical age where she can do
Sunday afternoon chores in the barns without an adult being by her side. These were a rite of passage that made me
realize how quickly her time in our home is flying by and how much her time
helping on our farm is shaping her developing responsibility and ability to
follow through on tasks.
Over the years I’ve enjoyed swapping recipes with other pork
producing families, but this new recipe is one that morphed from a Facebook
plea of needing ideas of how to use up an avalanche of frozen, pureed basil
from our garden. I don’t think I can ever make enough spaghetti sauce to use
that much up! My west coast cousin Laura
suggested pesto turkey burgers and we wondered through Facebook comments back
and forth if pesto burgers would work for ground pork which is something I have
in my freezer. I love being able to swap kitchen and food ideas with cousins
half a country away through this technology.
Her caution was to start light on the pesto, because who really wants to
eat a green burger. So right.
I made the Pesto Pork burgers for a field food night with
provolone cheese…winner, winner, ground pork dinner! And then MiniMe and I chatted about how we
could reinvent the burger… Hmmmm, we thought these would be really good meatballs for
tailgating, meatball subs, in spaghetti sauce on noodles or zucchini noodles…
This could be my new go-to transformation food in cook once for a bunch
efforts! It is also gluten free, so extra bonus for my friends with wheat
sensitivities.
Even if you don’t make this recipe, think about my family
the next time you load a burger with a slice of bacon or throw a chop on the
grill.
Garlic Pesto
Pork Meatballs
The
Groceries:
2 pounds of
ground pork
2 Eggs
½ C Milk
3/4 C Oatmeal
3-4
tablespoons of Kate’s Garlic Pesto, Recipe below or your favorite pesto with a
¼ t garlic paste added.
1 t salt
Optional:
Provolone cheese cubes or mozzarella cheese sticks cut into ¾ inch sections.
The Process:
Preheat oven
to 400 F.
Line a
rimmed cookie sheet with aluminum foil that has been lightly sprayed.
Combine all
the ingredients until very well mixed.
Using a
cookie scoop measure out the meatballs and place on the cookie sheet. (If adding cheese, form the ball around the
cheese chunk before putting on the cookie sheet.)
Bake at 400
for 10 minutes and then lower the temperature of the oven to 350F and bake
until internal temperature has reached 160 degrees.
Once cooked
you can freeze for a fast reheat or add to your favorite sauce to eat on
noodles or in a meatball sub.
Kate’s Garlic Pesto
The Groceries:
2-3 T of
pureed basil leaves
2 T Pine
Nuts
2 t minced
garlic
Canola Oil
to puree/emulsify
The Process:
Combine
basil, pine nuts and garlic in mini-food processor and process while drizzling
oil over as it blends and emulsifies. Will
become 1/3- scant 1/2 cup of (avocado colored and somewhat creamy looking)
pesto that can be used as a wet rub on pork roasts or whole chickens for
roasting or in pasta dishes.
