Layers of thinly cut and lightly fried potato pieces, a rich meatball sauce, a white creamy sauce, mozzarella…This meatball casserole is unreal. In life, we come across good food, but sometimes we come across food that makes question every meal we have ever had on this planet. Good is not enough. Comforting, heartwarming…actual love baked in an oven is what this casserole is.
Family dinners, the Christmas feast, weeknight dinners, meal prep, barbeques… the list of where this casserole belongs is endless. This meatball casserole is saucy, well-balanced and textured. The meatballs provide the umami taste which is a key component of this meatball casserole. The lightly fried potatoes which cook further while the meatball casserole is baking provide a hearty, filling dimension that ties the individual components of this casserole into a wholesome meal. Lastly the mozzarella cheese in between the layers of potato, meatballs and white sauce and as the final layer which gives the casserole a golden finish is what makes this meal heavenly.
I have been developing this recipe for over 5 years. The idea first popped in my head when I had three potatoes left in the pantry but I had to make dinner for more than 3 people. Such kitchen scenarios are designed to get you thinking. I found myself slicing the potatoes into tiny random triangular pieces. I rolled out meatballs ,then…I had a lightbulb moment- cooking the meatballs in a red sauce then adding a white sauce when layering was probably going to create an unmatched flavour profile. I wasn’t wrong!
Recipe Notes
- Meatballs: I used a blend of pork and beef mice (15% fat) for this recipe. I have tried it out with pork mince alone and a beef mice alone and it quite frankly missed the target. However, if you do not have access to beef and pork mice combined, I would opt for just beef mice, but the ‘je ne sais quoi’ will certainly be missing.
- Potatoes: The thinner the potatoes are, the faster they are going to cook and the crispier they will be. Make thin but not too thin. Try not to fry them in more than 2 tablespoons of oil because that will make them soggy and they may become mushy. I fried the potatoes in batches of 3 to reduce the cooking time and attain the perfect light crisp golden colour. Avoid frying them for more than 15 minutes because they are going to cook further in the oven anyway.
- Mozzarella cheese: If you don’t have mozzarella cheese, cheddar would be a pretty decent substitute and it may add a greater depth of flavour but I still vouch for mozzarella because it’s a lot more stretchy compared to cheddar and using cheddar cheese could make this recipe a bit too rich.
- White sauce: This recipe is equally exceptional without the white sauce. It is a great addition but it will not be a train smash of you do not incorporate the sauce. A potential problem with white sauce is it has a tendency to taste salty even if you add a quarter teaspoon more salt than what is needed. If the white sauce tastes salty after trying to redeem it by adding milk several times, I recommend leaving out. A salty white sauce WILL RUIN THIS CASSEROLE. How do I know that? I once used a salty white sauce in this recipe.
- BBQ sauce: For this recipe, I suggest using the ‘smokiest’ bbq sauce you have in your pantry for the meatball sauce. It will add balanced sweet flavor profile that makes this casserole taste like a dream.
- For the potatoes:
- 4 medium sized potatoes
- 2 tbsp salt
- 1 tbsp pepper
- For the meatballs:
- 500g pork and beef mice
1 tbsp salt
1 tbsp black pepper
1 tbsp steak seasoning - For the meatball sauce:
- 1 medium onion fried
- 1 can chopped tommatoes
- 1 cup beef stock
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp sweet chilli
- 3 tbsp tomato sauce
- 4 tbsp smokey sauce
- 2 tsp royco chicken/beef
- 1 tbsp italian herb seasoning
- For the white sauce:
- 3 tbsp flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 tsp black pepper
- 2 1/2 cups milk
- 1/4 cup cheese
- Garnish:
- 2 cups grated mozzarella cheese
- 200g curly parsley
Directions
- Wash the potatoes and slice them into thin ovals (about 0.2cm in thickness) before cutting them into quarters then triangles.
- Season the potatoes with salt and pepper.
- In a large pan, heat 2 tbsp of oil on medium-high heat for about 5 minutes.
- Fry the potatoes in 2 or 3 batches for 10-15 minutes, aiming for a light brown golden colour.
- For the meatballs, combine the pork and beef mince with the salt, black pepper, steak seasoning.
- Roll the mince into tiny meatballs (the smaller they are, the faster they’ll cook).
- Fry the meatballs on medium-high heat in batches of 2 or 3, ensuring that the pan is not crowded (avoid flipping the meatballs before 8 minutes otherwise they’ll break).
- Place the cooked meatballs aside.
- To prepare the meatball sauce, fry the sliced onion rings for 4-5 minutes.
- Set aside half of the onion rings and leave the other half in the pan.
- Add the canned tomatoes to the pan alongside the beef stock, sugar, sweet chilli, tomato sauce, smokey bbq sauce, royco and Italian herb seasoning.
- Simmer on low heat for 10 minutes before adding the meatballs and simmering for a further 10 minutes.
- To make the white sauce, add the flour to a small saucepan and gradually pour in the milk while whisking.
- Cook the mixture on medium heat for 5-10 minutes till it begins to thicken.
- Add the salt, black pepper and mozzarella cheese and cook for a further 5 minutes before removing from the heat.
- To assemble the casserole, follow this order: a layer of potatoes, then the meatball sauce, white sauce , a light drizzle of mozzarella and repeat.
- Sprinkle mozzarella cheese as the final layer after assembling all the layers.
- Bake the casserole at 150 degrees Celsius fan forced for 25-30 minutes (till the cheese is golden).
- Get ready for all the compliments you are GOING to receive for this casserole (wink emoji)!
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