There are many possibilities for using meat products in cooking. Stuffing is one of the most acceptable options. Chopped meat is better absorbed, releases more juice and is fragrant. And the most delicious way to cook it is to make hedgehogs with gravy.
Rice selection
Creating the perfect dish is a creative process, but choosing ingredients is by no means inspired. The first component a cook needs is rice. He will have to choose from:
- White (polished). Such rice undergoes a long processing, during which its culinary properties improve, but nutritional values deteriorate. Some of the substances important to the human body are lost.
- Steamed. This variety is much better than the previous one. Useful minerals are stored in rice at 80%. However, it is harder and takes much longer to prepare.
- Brown. This rice did not go through any processing. It is considered the most delicious of those that are easy to buy in stores. However, it has an expiration date, so it is difficult to store it at home.
- Long grain. In its advantage - imported goods. It differs mainly only in form from domestic round grain.
We will not consider other varieties. These are either genetically modified "golden" varieties, or simply expensive imported products. Use them in the preparation of hedgehogs with gravy - a waste of money and effort in processing. So which rice is better to choose?
If you want to spend time designing a dish, then you can use two types - round and long grain. The first is needed to prepare a side dish, and the second to mix with minced meat. So the needles of your hedgehogs with gravy will turn out a little sharper, and the taste is more piquant.
Ingredients
Let's start with one of the most undemanding recipes for products. With it, all the cooking will take you a maximum of 30 minutes. The number of ingredients is designed for 3-4 servings, but since they are usually designed for small "restaurant" dishes, then, most likely, two people will eat everything in one sitting.
We will need:
- 400 grams of minced pork;
- half a glass of rice;
- 1-2 bulbs;
- carrot;
- 250 milliliters of tomato juice (you can dilute tomato paste with boiling water);
- salt to taste;
- allspice;
- sunflower oil.
Cooking
This dish is cooked in the oven. Hedgehogs with gravy will be very juicy and tender. Therefore, before cooking, turn on the stove and start heating the oven to 180 degrees.
- Rinse the rice under running water. After that, pour it in a glass of boiling water, but not higher than the level of the cereal itself. If you prefer soft needles in hedgehogs, then boil the rice for 7-10 minutes.
- Twist the pork through a meat grinder. If you use a ready-made store product, it would be nice to use a combine to get rid of hard lumps.
- Stir rice with minced meat. Add spices to taste.
- Grind onions and carrots on a combine into porridge. You can do with an ordinary grater. Sauté, then add juice and simmer for a couple of minutes.
- Roll the minced meat into several balls, put in a baking dish and pour the sauce.
- Cover the mold with foil and place in a preheated oven for 30-40 minutes.
That's all, hedgehogs in the oven with gravy are ready. When serving, put them on top of the side dish and pour over the sauce. It drains over the meat and soaks the rest of the dish. It turns out incredibly tasty. And most importantly, if you cook several times, then when heated in the microwave, you can avoid the unpleasant aftertaste of the stale product.
Ready seasoning
Another way to make hedgehogs with gravy is to use ready-made seasonings from brand-name producers. Their only minus is that they usually contain gluten. If you are afraid of trembling in the knees of this substance, then skip this option. However, in fairness it should be noted that gluten does not affect the human body. Its only action is to enhance the taste, because of which a person will eat not one serving, but three. Therefore, here it is more a matter of self-control, rather than the harm of the substance.
Cooking hedgehogs with minced meat with rice and gravy in this way is not difficult. Detailed instructions can be found on the back of the pack with seasonings. In short, the whole procedure is as follows:
- Combine the washed rice, minced meat and spices from the packaging.
- Dissolve the seasoning mixture in boiled water.
- Roll the balls of minced meat, put in a frying pan and pour "sauce".
- Stew until cooked, periodically turning the hedgehogs with a spatula so that they do not burn.
At this, the preparation of hedgehogs from minced meat with rice and gravy can be considered complete. This option is ideal for those who do not have time for long cooking, and want to eat deliciously.
Multwark
This is one of the most indispensable appliances in the kitchen for modern young mothers. Allows you to save time, which then can be spent on yourself or a child. Hedgehogs with gravy in a slow cooker will have a slightly different taste compared to other cooking methods, but this should not stop you.
We will need:
- "home" stuffing - 500 grams;
- 1 carrot, onion, sweet pepper;
- a glass of rice;
- salt;
- vegetable oil;
- two tablespoons of flour;
- two tablespoons of tomato paste;
- 4 tablespoons of sour cream;
- two glasses of hot water.
After you have prepared everything, you can start cooking:
- Vegetables must be washed and chopped into small pieces. Pepper is cut into thin strips.
- Stuffing mix with rice and half the whole onion. If in the family someone does not eat this vegetable, then you can do without it. The dish from this will not lose much in taste. Salt and pepper the mixture.
- Roll the minced meat into hedgehogs.
- Pour oil into the multicooker, put the vegetables and passer for 10 minutes.
- In a separate bowl, mix the flour, tomato paste and sour cream. Add water.
- Now pour everything into a pot of vegetables and lay the hedgehogs.
The dish is cooked in the "Stew" mode at a temperature of 180 degrees. The timer must be set for 90 minutes. After the time has passed, hedgehogs in a slow cooker with gravy will be ready to serve.
Despite the fact that this dish is “2 in 1” (both a side dish and the main dish), it should be served with some kind of additive. Boiled rice and mashed potatoes are good.
Cookware Selection
Before you cook hedgehogs with gravy in a pan or pan, pay attention to your dishes. Usually when cooking in a slow cooker or oven, such problems do not arise, but when creating dishes on a gas stove - very often. This, of course, is about smell.
Aluminum and some stainless steel cookware have an unpleasant odor that appears when the surface is heated. If your dishes have such an unpleasant feature, then cooking any dishes that include a stewing process should be avoided. Try to get ceramic, non-stick or Teflon dishes. Cast iron is also not bad, but it weighs too much for gentle lady's hands.
In the pan
As you can see from the previous paragraph and heading, we’ll continue to look at how to cook delicious hedgehogs with gravy in a pan. And we will start with the most important thing - gravy. The hedgehogs themselves are the same in almost any recipe. It’s often the sauce that affects their taste. Let's give an example of a recipe for hedgehogs with sour cream gravy.
We will need:
- 200 grams of sour cream;
- a tablespoon of tomato paste;
- 2 cloves of garlic;
- a tablespoon of flour;
- half a glass of hot water.
The cooking process itself is nothing special. Just mix all the ingredients together and add half a glass of water. We should also mention garlic. It’s best to flatten it with a special “garlic press”. So he will let more juice and make the gravy more fragrant. If you do not have such a device, cut the cloves into thin slices.
Hedgehogs and Cooking
For the hedgehogs themselves, you need a little:
- 600 grams of meat (or minced meat);
- half a glass of rice (100 g);
- egg;
- bulb;
- carrot;
- 1-2 cloves of garlic;
- seasoning to taste;
- salt, pepper - required;
- vegetable or olive oil for frying.
The cooking process is not much different from all previous instructions:
- Scroll the meat in a meat grinder.
- Cook rice or soak.
- Chop onions and carrots, then fry until golden brown.
- Combine minced meat, rice, fried vegetables, garlic and beaten egg.
- Salt and pepper the mixture. Add your favorite condiments if necessary.
- Roll hedgehogs from minced meat.
- Put them in a pot or deep pan. Pour boiling water to the middle of the dish and set aside for 30 minutes.
- After time, pour the sauce and simmer another 20 minutes.
Ready hedgehogs can be served with your favorite side dish, sprinkled with herbs.