Friends

My friend, Christi, over at Burlap And Basil posted a pic of this meal on Instagram and immediately followed it up with a blog post.

Rightfully so.

This meal is to-die-for and super low in carbs if you’re worried about that sort of thing. I’m not doing Paleo, by any means, but this meal certainly wasn’t lacking anything ~ flavorful and filling!

{I had never used this before, but it is sooooo good. Would be lovely on some crackers, too!}

BOURSIN CHIVE MEATBALLS, CAULIFLOWER PUREE & MARSALA MUSHROOMS

makes 20-28 meatballs, depending on size
makes 4 servings of cauliflower puree
makes 4 servings of mushrooms

Ingredients
for the Boursin Chive Meatballs 

• 1 to 1 1/4 pounds 85%-90% lean ground beef
• 3/4 of one 5.2 ounce package of garlic and herb Boursin cheese
• 1/4 cup chopped chives
• 1 shallot, chopped
• pinch of kosher salt
• pinch of pepper
• 1 tsp olive oil
• Olive oil cooking spray

for the Cauliflower Puree

• 2 pounds of cauliflower florets (I buy the bags at Trader Joe’s)
• 1/4 of one 5.2 ounce package of garlic and herb Boursin cheese
• generous grating of Parmigiano-Reggiano (maybe 3 tablespoons)
• pinch of kosher salt
• pinch of pepper

for the Marsala Mushrooms

• 6 ounces of white or cremini mushrooms, stems removed and sliced
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• pinch of kosher salt
• pinch of pepper
• pinch of crushed garlic
• 4 tablespoons Marsala wine

serving option
serve with chopped Italian Parsley


Directions for the entire meal

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. In a bowl, combine ground beef, Boursin cheese, chives, shallot, salt and pepper. With your hands, mix until combined, but don’t overmix or squeeze meat. You want to keep the integrity of the ground beef and just mix the ingredients into the meat.
3. Roll 1 1/2 inch or so balls from the meat mixture and set onto a plate.
4. Using a non-stick pan, heat olive oil and spray pan with olive oil cooking spray.
5. Pull out a baking sheet and spray with cooking spray.
6. Put a pot of water on the stove to boil – large enough to hold the cauliflower.
7. In two or three batches, fry the meatballs until they are brown on all sides, but not cooked all the way through. You’ll turn the meatballs a few times to get them brown on all the sides. Place the meatballs onto the cookie sheet. Do not drain fat and juices from the non-stick pan.
8. Once all the meatballs are browned on the outside and on the cookie sheet, put the cookie sheet into the oven and cook for about 20 minutes.
9. While the meatballs are baking, toss the cauliflower into the boiling water and cook until tender – about 10 minutes.
10. While the cauliflower is cooking, heat the fat and juices from browning the meatballs and add the olive oil. Add the sliced mushrooms, salt, pepper, garlic and Marsala wine into the pan. Mix to combine and let sautee and juices reduce completely – will take about 10 minutes. Stir periodically when it reduces.
11. Drain the cauliflower and in batches, puree the cauliflower in your food processor (I use a mini one most often, so batches is how I get it smooth). Put the pureed cauliflower back into the pot you boiled the cauliflower in (and drained the water from already). Add the remainder of the Boursin cheese (1/4 of the package), Parmigiano-Reggiano, a pinch of kosher salt and pinch of pepper. Over very low heat, mix to combine and melt cheese. You can leave this on very low heat for about 15 minutes, as long as you stir frequently so it doesn’t burn to the bottom.
12. Remove the meatballs from the oven.
13. It is time to plate and eat! Onto the center of the plate, scoop a generous helping of pureed cauliflower. Place several meatballs onto the cauliflower. Top with Marsala mushrooms. Sprinkle some chopped Italian Parsley onto, if desired.

Cook’s Notes

• To only make the meatballs, follow steps 1-5, 7-8 and 12.
• To only make the cauliflower, follow steps 6, 9 and 11.
• To only make the Marsala mushrooms, follow step 10. You might need 2 teaspoons of olive oil if you aren’t using the liquid from browning the meatballs, but it isn’t necessary since you aren’t browning the meatballs.

This pairing would make a perfect Valentine’s Day dinner…..just sayin’!