Venison Meatballs

When I found out that my custodian (who is wonderful and amazing) got a deer last month I so graciously offered to take some meat off of his hands if he ran out of room in his freezer. A few weeks later he walked into my classroom with a box that had some beautiful looking ground venison! I was like a kid in a candy store, visions of sugar plums danced in my head… well – you get the idea. I was thrilled BUT realized I had no idea what (or how) to make. I know that venison is so much leaner than beef so I knew that I needed some help. I stumbled across VenisonRecipes.net and figured they probably knew what they were talking about!

RECIPE

• apprx 1 pound ground venison
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• ½ cup Parmesan cheese
• ½ cup milk
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 2 T chopped [fresh] parsley
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• less than 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• Your own or favorite tomato sauce

In a large bowl, combine venison, breadcrumbs, cheese, milk, eggs, parsley, garlic, salt, and pepper; mix well. Form mixture into golf-sized meatballs. Heat (olive) oil in a medium pot over medium-high. Add meatballs and brown on all sides, about 5 minutes.

Add them to your sauce OR add marinara sauce directly to the pan that you cooked your meatballs in – lower heat to a simmer. Cook, covered, 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. Serve over cooked pasta.

Venison is a “game meat” and therefor more lean than other “ground” type meats and when not cooked correctly can get very tough. This recipe allowed the “gamey” taste to come through while allowing for a tender yet firm meatball. WOW did we enjoy this – now I just need to get creative with the rest of the venison in the freezer!