Spiced Venison Meatballs with Creamy Butternut Orzo
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Autumn has always been my favorite season. It’s the time of year when life slows down from all the summer activities and the days become shorter. Cooler temperatures arrive, hunting seasons across the country start to really take off, and the supper table is filled with delicious and warming meals. Also for some, autumn is the time when your gardens at home start to yield vegetables such as butternut squash, turnips and rutabaga. So, in honor of freezers full of autumnal bounty, we bring you this recipe.
This recipe very loosely has some Nordic roots. My wife and I have a Norwegian meatball recipe that we love to prepare in the winter. One evening, we were sitting around trying to figure out a way to prepare a recipe similar to it, but incorporating more of the fall-time ingredients that we can find locally in our area or in our garden. That’s how this recipe came to be. This recipe does require both a food processor and an immersion blender if you want to make it in a timely manner, but it can be done without these tools; it may just take a little more time and sweat. Another small note: we have added venison liver to this recipe in the past, but did not include it in the ingredients list. If you want to add it, we usually use about 1 cup of diced liver that is blitzed in the food processor before adding the rest of the meatball ingredients. We hope you enjoy it and taste the wonderful autumn flavors.
Serving Size: 4 Servings
Time to Make: 1.5 hours
Also Works With: Any ground red meat
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Spiced Venison Meatballs with Creamy Butternut Orzo
4
servings30
minutes1
hourKeep the screen of your device on
Ingredients
8 oz orzo pasta, cooked to package directions and drained
1/2 Butternut squash
Olive oil
- Meatball Ingredients
1 lb ground venison
1/2 cup bread crumbs
1 tablespoon fresh thyme
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- Sauce Ingredients
3 Tablespoons butter
Small yellow onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 Tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped finely
1/2 Tablespoon fresh sage, chopped finely
1 tsp kosher salt
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
Pinch black pepper
1 cup vegetable broth
3/4 cup half and half or heavy cream
Preparation
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- Split a butternut squash lengthwise and scoop the seeds out. You only need one half for this recipe, so save the other half for something else.
- Brush some olive oil onto the squash and lay the flesh side down on a baking tray. Bake for 40 mins or until a knife pierces through easily.
- While the squash bakes, create your meatball mixture in a food processor or just using your hands. Combine all ingredients, then set in the fridge to chill for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, use a small spoon to scoop out enough of the mixture to shape into 1.5” meatballs
- Bake meatballs for 20 minutes or until reaching an internal temperature of 160°F.
- For the sauce, melt the butter in a large heavy skillet
- Add diced onion, cooking for 2 minutes until soft
- Add garlic and herbs, cooking for 1 minute
- Scooped cooked squash out of the rind and add to the skillet. Using a wooden spoon, mash the squash
- Add your vegetable broth and continue to mash
- Add half and half or heavy cream and allow to heat together until it just reaches a simmer
- Taking an immersion blender, blend up everything in the skillet on high until fully incorporated
- Add in the cooked orzo and stir well to coat the pasta
- Serve in a bowl or on a plate and top with meatballs.
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The dish was great!! My wife and I cooked this tonight. We’re not the best at following recipes but the instructions were clear and easy to follow. The herbs and spices complemented the venison nicely. We’ll definitely be making this again for family get togethers soon!