Meatballs in Cranberry and Pinot Noir Sauce

Submitted by Acerast

"This has been a favorite of ours for many years. It is from the "Recipes from the Vineyards of Oregon" cookbook. Delicious and elegant meatballs, the food service where DH teaches now makes these for entertaining."

 

• Ready In: 55mins
• Ingredients: 12
• Yields: 24 meatballs

ingredients

• 1 (16 ounce) can whole berry cranberry sauce
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 1⁄2 cup pinot noir wine
• 2 teaspoons dry mustard (can use hot chinese if you wish)
• 2 lbs lean ground beef
• 1 1⁄2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
• 1⁄2 cup finely chopped celery
• 1⁄2 cup finely chopped onion
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 teaspoons garlic salt
• 1⁄4 teaspoon pepper

directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
2. Lightly oil a shallow baking dish.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine ground beef, bread crumbs, celery, onion, eggs, Worcestershire sauce, garlic salt and pepper.
4. Shape into 24- 1 1/2 inch balls.
5. Place in one layer in baking dish.
6. Bake for 20 minutes.
7. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan, stir together the cranberry sauce, brown sugar, Pinot Noir and mustard.
8. Simmer over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring often.
9. Remove from heat and set aside until needed.
10. After the first 20 minutes of baking, pour Cranberry and Pinot Noir Sauce over meatballs.
11. Bake an additional 15 minutes.
12. Remove meatballs and sauce to a serving platter and serve warm.
13. A chafing dish or crockpot keeps them warm for buffets.

Reviews

[Mazda_Mom]

I make these meatballs every year for Thanksgiving or Christmas but I follow the original recipe for "<br/>Cocktail Meatballs in Cranberry-Pinot Noir Sauce Recipe" from Sharon Beran of Beran Vineyards of Hillsboro, Oregon (http://whatscookingamerica.net/Appetizers/MeatballCranPinot.htm) The original recipe calls for HOT CHINESE MUSTARD, not prepared mustard. The Chinese mustard makes a big difference in balancing out the sweetness. Also, it calls for 1 cup of Pinot Noir, not 1/2. For more cranberry flavor, I will sometimes use 2 cans of cranberry sauce but that's something you can play around with as the sauce recipe is pretty forgiving.<br/>When making the meatballs, I don't go through the trouble of finely chopping onions...I just buy dried minced onions and rehydrate in a small bowl of water them before adding them into the meat mixture. You get a good onion flavor with no large pieces (great for kids!)<br/>These are always a huge hit!

 

[Jociecee]

These meatballs were tasty but a little too sweet for me and my family. I would make them again with maybe 1/2 cup of brown sugar-I did like the combination of cranberry with the beef, and the pinot noir gave it a good flavor. I made this for Best of 2010 Tag-thanks for a good recipe!

 

[FLKeysJen]

Fantastic! One of the most popular dishes at our New Year's Eve party. I cooked and served it in a crock pot. It was not too sweet - very good cranberry and Pinot Noir flavor and received lots of compliments.

 

[Graciebonica]

The meatballs themselves were good, but the sauce was much too sweet---one cup of brown sugar seems to be too much. I also think that the sauce needs more"zip"---some additional seasoning. I guess I was expecting it to taste more like the recipes than include chili sauce.

 

[windywood]

Very good. I like the sweet sour taste of the cranberries in this one. I left out onions but used everything else. I think I'll make these ahead and keep in freezer.