Fresh Fennel and Red Wine Meatballs with Sautéed Kale and Sweet Onions
Author Becky's Mindful Kitchen
Ingredients
Meatballs
2lbsground pork
1/4-1/3cfinely chopped garlic chives (may substitute other chives)
3clovesgarlic, minced
1cfinely chopped fresh fennel (this was one bulb worth for me)
1/3cred wine
1smallred onion, finely diced
1Tred pepper flakes
1T thyme
2tspcoarse sea salt
asiago or other hard cheese for serving
Sautéed Kale and onions
1sweet onion, julienne, plus greens if attached to onion
2buncheskale, rolled and sliced
1/3cchopped fennel leaves
3clovesgarlic minced
1Tthyme
2tspred peper
1/4cred wine
Harvest Tuscan or Garlic Olive Oil
Juices from cooked meatballs
Instructions
Meatballs
Preheat Oven to 400Mix together all of the ingredients in bowl and form into balls. Bake on a cooking sheet until done, about 20-30 minutes depending on the size of the meatballs. They can be a light shad of pink but not look raw at all. Do not overcook the meatballs or they will dry out. If you end up with meatballs that are too dry to eat alone, simply crumble them and add to a marinara sauce, pizza, or stuffed pasta shells with ricotta and mozzarella cheese. The juices from the meatballs will be used in the vegetables.
Sautéed Kale
In a large pan (I like cast iron), heat olive oil and add onions and cook over medium heat until they become tender and slightly browned. Add in garlic and fennel and about 1/4 c of juices from meatballs (or stock, butter or more olive oil if you didn't make the meatballs) and let cook for a minute or two before adding the spices and then wine and kale. Let cook, stirring occasionally until kale has cooked down. Salt to taste.