Beef

Buffalo, Mushroom & Feta Meatballs with San Marzano tomato sauce

by:
August  9, 2010
4
4 Ratings
Buffalo, Mushroom & Feta Meatballs with San Marzano tomato sauce
  • Serves 4-6
Author Notes

These meatballs are much more interesting than your classic meatballs. The mushrooms bulk out the meat, making them affordable to make and combined with the buffalo meat you have a much healthier meatball too! Serve on top of pasta with warm crusty bread for mopping up the juices. - Londonfoodieny —Londonfoodieny

Test Kitchen Notes

This is a well-executed meatball recipe replete with good tips. I completely support baking the meatballs in a hot oven (15 minutes was good at 425°F), then I transferred them to the sauce to finish and absorb some of the tomato flavor. Using the thin basil stalks puzzled me at first, but then I realized that when you spend money for herbs, using each portion to maximum potential is a good thing. – Amber Olson
—The Editors

What You'll Need
Ingredients
  • Olive oil
  • 1 large onion, peeled and finely chopped
  • 1 large garlic clove, peeled and finely chopped
  • 28 ounces can whole San Marzano tomatoes
  • small bunches fresh basil, thin stalks chopped, leaves picked and reserved
  • 8 ounces Cremini mushrooms, finely chopped
  • 1 pound ground buffalo meat (bison)
  • 1/4 cup freshly chopped parsley
  • 1 large egg
  • 3 ounces feta cheese, broken into pea-sized cubes
  • 1 pinch ground cumin
  • 1 pinch ground corinander
  • 1/2 lemon zest
  • 1 teaspoon kosher salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
Directions
  1. Heat the oven to 425F (400F convection) In a medium-sized deep frying pan heat 1 Tbsp olive oil over a medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook until softened, without coloring about 5-10 minutes. Add the garlic and chopped basil stalks and cook for a further 1 minute.
  2. Transfer half of the onions/garlic to a large bowl. To the remaining onions/garlic in the pan, add the San Marzano tomatoes and a 1/3 can full of water. Bring to a boil and let gently simmer for about 15-20 minutes until thickened. At this point you can blend or keep chunky. Season to taste.
  3. Meanwhile, In a new large frying pan, heat a drop or two of olive oil over a high heat. Sauté the mushrooms until lightly golden and softened (about 2-3 minutes). Add to the bowl of onions/garlic and allow to cool.
  4. To the cooled onions/garlic/mushrooms add the remaining ingredients and use your hands to gently but thoroughly mix together. Form into 16 balls about the size of golf balls. The mixture is quite wet but don’t squeeze too hard together or the meatballs will be tough. Place onto a baking tray (either greased or lined with bake-o-glide).
  5. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes, or until lightly golden. (check after 15 minutes, times will vary depending on oven temp) If you know that your oven is cool, cook at a higher temp. Serve with pasta, salad, bread…you name it. Top with some of the tomato sauce, drizzle with a little bit of olive oil and if you have the basil scatter with a few torn leaves to serve.
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  • Ranette Fletcher
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  • lapadia
    lapadia
  • lastnightsdinner
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7 Reviews

Ranette F.
Ranette F. October 25, 2018
I really liked this recipe! The mushrooms, feta and lemon zest made them very tasty. I got the prepackaged bison meat from Whole Foods.
 
MountainMikeD
MountainMikeD August 7, 2011
I'm a fan of any well grown meat. We got this buffalo from Tall Grass Buffalo. The actual transaction was kind of a hassle, but the meat is good. So far we have made this dish (which is cooking right this moment) we also made an eggplant moussaka, which was delicious.

We tried locally grown goat, but the meat just wasn't as good.
 
Amber O.
Amber O. August 27, 2010
Just wanted to say that these meatballs were scrumptious! The combination of seasonings with feta and mushrooms makes them delightfully different.
 
Amber O.
Amber O. August 24, 2010
I think you and I are the only ones on food52 that appreciate buffalo. Please check out my meatloaf recipe using bison to give you additional ideas! in the meantime, I'm testing your meatballs for an EP; looking forward to them...
 
Amber O.
Amber O. August 24, 2010
Just did a search and realized a few, very few, additional fans of buffalo on food52.
 
lastnightsdinner
lastnightsdinner August 27, 2010
I used to get it all the time when I lived in New York, from a great farmer who sold at Union Square Greenmarket. It's a bit harder to find now that I'm in RI, and as with any proteins I buy, I want to be sure I'm supporting a producer who is raising the animal in a sustainable and humane fashion. So add me to the list of bison/buffalo lovers - I'd love to cook and eat it more often!
 
lapadia
lapadia August 12, 2010
I will have to try buffalo very soon!