Italian meatballs are just great on the grill! We smoke them first, before simmering in tomato sauce with grated parmesan on top. Seriously good stuff.
Servings 4
Ingredients
- 2.2 lbs ground wild boar meat (regular ground beef works just as well)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp coarse ground black pepper
- 0.5 tsp ancho-chili powder
- 0.5 tsp ground cumin
- 2 shallots (finely chopped)
- 2 cans crushed tomatoes (14 oz each)
- 4 oz grated parmesan
Instructions
- Chop the shallots finely. Mix it with the ground meat and the spices in a large pan. Knead it properly so the spices get evenly distributed. Shape 2-2.5 inch diameter meatballs and keep in the fridge for an hour or two.
- Fire up your grill, prepare it for indirect grilling. Have it running at 225° – 250° F. Use the snake method if you’re using a kettle grill, or even better, a Slow ‘N Sear.
- Place the meatballs on the indirect side of the grill and close the lid. Add some wood chunks for smoking on the glowing embers. I use apple wood for this cook.
- A so called frog mat helps when you have ground beef on the grates. Smoke them until their inner temperature is 130° F. It usually takes 30-40 minutes.
- In the meantime; pour the tomatoes in a sauce pan and bring it to a boil. Pour immediately into the oven pan and place the meatballs in the pan. Sprinkle the grated parmesan evenly all over the meat balls and put the pan back on the grill and close the lid.
- Wait for the meatballs to reach 145° F, usually another 20 minutes. Now remove from the grill and serve.
