Recipe from Homemade Happiness – NZ’s bestselling cookbook of 2015!
Sneaky rissoles with potato & leek smash
I call these ‘sneaky’ rissoles because although there are veges hidden within them (and served alongside), no one will care or notice because it’s all so very delicious. Even the beetroot haters won’t mind. If you don’t want to bother with the pan jus, just serve with a dollop of relish or tomato sauce. My bestie Andrea became mildly obsessed with these after I made them for her when I was testing the recipe — she said they were the best thing she’d ever tasted. Bless. I’ll think of her every time I make them now. To make these gluten-free, use GF breadcrumbs.
Prep time: 20 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Serves: 6–8 (makes about 15 rissoles)
Ingredients
Rissoles
500g beef mince
500g pork mince
1 onion, finely chopped
1 large courgette, grated
1 cup grated peeled beetroot
½ cup dried breadcrumbs (or 2 slices wholemeal toast bread processed to a crumb)
1 large free-range egg
½ cup chopped fresh herbs (parsley, chives, sage)
¼ cup tomato paste
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
2–3 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tsp ground black pepper
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
1/2 tsp salt
olive oil for cooking
Jus
1 ½ cups beef reduced-salt stock
3 tbsp tomato relish
2 tsp cornflour mixed with 2 tsp water
Smash
1kg floury potatoes (such as Agria), scrubbed and halved
50g butter
1 leek, finely chopped
1 cup chopped or baby spinach (optional)
¼ cup finely chopped fresh chives or parsley
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
freshly ground black pepper
squeeze of lemon
Method
Preheat the oven to 200c (190c fan-bake). Line a roasting dish with baking paper.
Add all the rissole ingredients, except the oil, to your largest mixing bowl and with clean hands scrunch up until mixed evenly. Shape into about 12–15 plump rissoles — the size is somewhere between a meatball and a burger patty. Arrange in the roasting dish, cover and refrigerate for 20 minutes to set (or until needed).
Add the halved potatoes to a saucepan of cold salted water. Bring to a simmer and cook for 15–20 minutes until tender. Drain and keep warm until needed.
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a large frying pan (or barbecue hotplate) over a medium-high heat.
When the pan is hot, brown the rissoles on both sides in 2–3 batches, so you don’t overcrowd the pan, then return to the roasting dish.
Bake the rissoles in the oven for 13–15 minutes (the beetroot will make them look pink even though they’re cooked).
To make the jus, drain the fat from rissole pan and add the beef stock, scraping all the caramelised meat juices off the bottom. Add the relish and cornflour mixture, simmer rapidly and stir until the sauce thickens a little.
While the rissoles are cooking, add the butter and a splash of olive oil to another saucepan over a medium heat. When foamy, add the leek and cook for about 15 minutes until very soft.
Add the leeks to the potatoes and squash with a fork to smash them up a bit. Stir though the spinach if using, herbs and mustard. Season with salt and pepper and a squeeze of lemon juice.
Serve the rissoles on the smashed potato and pour over the pan jus.
