[TM] The Amazing “Meatballs from Mars”
Dear Peanut,
In previous entries (read it here, here, and here), I wrote about the still ongoing battle with breastfeeding and flat nipples. So to increase my milk supply, I tried drinking/eating everything that has malunggay in it.
Nalulunod na ako sa sabaw at tsaa.
One time, I prepared tea and added malunggay flakes (instead of powder). It smelled so foul I poured it down the drain. Tea with malunggay powder isn’t a better option.
I have packs of malunggay powder and flakes in our pantry and I’ve been looking for recipes and ways to mask the foul odor and taste of the plant. One of my former clients and Accenture heads sent me a message about her recipe for malunggay meatballs. She called it “Monster Meatballs from Mars” because of the green tinge to it. I tried it last week with a few alterations, here’s the recipe.
Note: There’s this cooking show called Donna Hay: Basics To Brilliance wherein she cooks a basic recipe and uses it to create a more brilliant recipe. Here’s my version.
BASIC RECIPE
Meatballs from Mars with Cheese Bombs
Yield: 30 pcs. Medium-sized meatballs
Ingredients
- 1 large white onion, minced
- 1 head of garlic, minced
- 1 cup breadcrumbs (Honestbee employee couldn’t find Italian breadcrumbs so I used Japanese breadcrumbs)
- ½ kilo ground pork
- ½ kilo ground beef
- 1 large egg, beaten
- 2 tbsp cornstarch
- 30 cheese cubes (use the one you like, I used cheddar, but you can also use any flavored cheese, like pepper jack)
- 2 cups malunggay flakes
- 1 tbsp basil (flakes or powder)
- 1 tbsp oregano (flakes or powder)
- 1 cup parsley, minced
- salt and pepper to taste
Procedure:
- Mix everything in a big bowl.
- Form into balls with 1 cheese cube in the middle, hidden.
- Pan fry, serve hot with rice or pasta. Dipping sauce optional.
- You can freeze the rest of the meatballs for later use. I keep mine in the chiller.
Note: The original recipe called for grated cheese. I wanted cheese bombs so I tweaked it.
BRILLANCE RECIPE
Pesto Cream Cheese Pasta with Malunggay Meatballs and Truffle Oil and Kesong Puti
Serves 4-5 people
Ingredients:
- 5 Medium-size Malunggay Meatballs with Cheese Bomb
- 1 tbsp canola oil (or any cooking oil you have)
- 5 - 6 tbsp pesto from a jar
- 1/2 cup heavy cream or all-purpose cream
- 3 tbsp. softened cream crease
- Cooked pasta
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 1/2 cup kesong puti or feta cheese
- 1 tbsp truffle oil or plain olive oil
Procedure:
- Cook the thawed meatballs in a shallow pan with some oil. Break it up so it becomes grounded meat again.
- Add 5 to 6 generous tbsp. of pesto from a jar (I used Barilla)
- Add ½ cup of heavy cream or all-purpose cream, mix well. If you don’t have cream, you can use milk but use 1/3 cup instead of ½ cup. Be careful not to burn the entire thing. Make sure the fire is low.
- Add 3 generous tbsp. of softened cream cheese (I used Philadelphia Original Cream Cheese). If the mixture is too thick, you can add more cream or milk.
- Add cooked pasta and mix well. I used fusilli so the bits and pieces can cling to the crevices. You can also use farfalle and penne or any type of pasta you like, really.
- Salt and pepper to taste but season carefully because the meatballs and pesto are already salty. I added a generous dash of pepper because I like it.
- From this point, you can add spinach or kangkong leaves if you want, or more malunggay flakes.
- Transfer to a serving dish and top with kesong puti. You can finish the dish with truffle oil to make it more decadent but if you don’t have truffle oil, olive oil will do.
- Serve hot.
Note: I created this recipe because I needed to use the kesong puti from Rizal Dairy Farm and the leftover 4-day-old batch of fusilli in the fridge. It tasted great!
When you grow up, try this recipe or I can cook this for you. :)
Love,
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