Italicious

With only five meatballs left over, and no desire to heat them up and eat them as they were, I decided to get creative and make something with them. Since there are spices in these meatballs, I figured that I would take this Northern European dish and make something with a Mediterranean taste, added a little cumin and served it over quinoa, which was really meant to be couscous, but there just wasn’t enough for the two of us.

This is the kind of dish that my kids are going to groan over, just like I groaned over my mother’s creative uses of leftovers. I will have to figure out a way to make it interesting, or convince them that it isn’t leftovers. Poor kids, hopefully with their Neapolitan father, who has a rich history of recycling left over food, they will think it’s cool, then again, who knows.

We are in the process of moving right now, and like my last post, I made this dish with what I had on hand, there haven’t been too many trips to the grocery store this week and I have had a tendency to forget at least three things every time I make a trip, making cooking a seriously creative effort. Thank goodness that when it comes to food, my husband is very easy to please.

Swedish Meatball Mediterranean Stew Creation

• leftover meatballs
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 carrots, sliced
• 2 stalks of celery, sliced
• 1/2 cup of canned tomatoes
• 1 tsp cumin
• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 1/2 cups of quinoa
• 3 cups of water for quinoa
• salt to taste

Heat 2 tbsp of the olive oil over medium heat in a large, heavy soup pot and add the onion. Cook, stirring, until the onion is translucent, about five minutes. Add the celery and the carrots, cook, stirring, until the carrots and celery are tender, and then add the tomatoes. Cook, stirring often, until the tomatoes have cooked down a bit, about 10 to 15 minutes. Fill the tomato cans with water and add to the pot. Bring to a simmer and turn the heat to low. You can add the meatballs at this point, crumbling them into the stew and stirring to combine.

In the meantime make the quinoa, I tend to make quinoa the same way that I make rice. Throwing it in the pot with water and salt, bringing it to a boil over high heat and then turning the heat down to a simmer and covering the pot. If you have your own method, I say, go for it!

When the quinoa is perfectly cooked, after about 20 minutes. Plate the quinoa and serve with the stew smothering it.

One Year Ago: Ligurian Shop Windows, Puntarelle, & Ristorante in Lavagna

~ by italicious on December 19, 2009.

Posted in beef, carrots, celery, onions, quinoa, stew, tomatoes
Tags: meatballs, quinoa, stew