Baked Meatballs Stewed in Cherry Sauce

Meat dishes go well with sweet fruit or berry sauces. The dish becomes unusual, original and even exquisite. Sweet and sour cherry sauce gives a new taste to familiar meatballs or, as it is now fashionable to say, to meatballs. In addition, the meatballs are baked in the oven before stewing in cherry sauce, which makes the dish healthier and less troublesome.

Cook: 1 hour

Serving: 6

Ingredients

• Minced meat – 500 g
• Cherries, fresh or frozen – 325 g
• Bread crumbs – 4 tbsp
• Egg – 1 pc.
• Cream 20% – 1 tbsp
• Bulb onions – 1 pc.
• Salt – 0.5 teaspoon
• Ground black pepper (or a mixture of peppers) – to taste
• Vegetable oil (for greasing the baking sheet) – 1 tbsp
  *
• For filing (optional):
• Fresh greens – to taste

Directions

1. Prepare the required ingredients.
   Any mince can be used (I have pork).
   Cherries can be used both frozen and fresh. Frozen cherries need to be left at room temperature for a short time to thaw.

   

2. Cut the onions into small cubes.
3. Turn on the oven to preheat to 170 degrees.
   In a deep bowl, combine the minced meat, egg, chopped onions, cream, salt and ground pepper.
4. Mix the contents of the bowl thoroughly, adding the breadcrumbs a little at a time. The meat mass should not be liquid, it should keep its shape.
5. Roll 25-30 meat balls (meatballs) from the minced meat obtained with wet hands.
6. Place the meatballs on a greased baking sheet. (Instead of greasing with oil, you can cover the baking sheet with parchment.)
7. Send the baking sheet with meatballs to the preheated oven for 35-40 minutes.
8. While the meatballs are baking, prepare the sauce. Remove the seeds from the cherries, while preserving the released juice.
   Place the cherries with juice (300 g) in a frying pan and heat to release the remaining juice.
9. Then place the berries in a blender bowl. Chop the cherries until puree.
10. Pour the cherry puree into the skillet.
11. The meatballs are baked: the outside has become ruddy, the inside is gray.
12. Transfer the meatballs to a skillet with cherry sauce.
13. Simmer the meatballs in cherry sauce over low heat with the lid closed for 8-10 minutes.

    

14. The sauce has partially evaporated, partially absorbed into the meatballs, and has become thicker.
15. Baked meatballs stewed in cherry sauce are ready. Transfer the meatballs to a serving plate, garnish with fresh herbs and serve.
16. Delicate juicy meat with bright sweet and sour cherry sauce – delicious, beautiful and original.

    

Good appetite!