Stuffed pork meatballs pasta recipe.

This is actually quite similar to my first pork meatball attempt. However, I ommited the chillies and added something else…cheese!

Specifically, cream cheese which I had cut into cubes and stuffed into the middle of the meatball. It was awesome!!!

I wasn’t really into cheese stuffed meatballs at restaurants because they tend to use gooey cheese which you could hardly taste after cooking. Cream cheese holds it form very well though, and gave the meatballs a nice, interesting, creamy texture.

# – Stuffed pork meatballs, in the making :D

For the meatballs:

  • 500 grams of pork mince
  • 5 strands of long beans or French beans, finely chopped
  • 1 large onion, finely diced
  • 3 tablespoon of mustard powder
  • 80 grams of bread crumbs
  • 1/2 tablespoon of salt
  • 100 grams of cream cheese, cut into cubes

For the tomato sauce:

  • 2 cans of plum tomatoes
  • 1 tablespoon of thyme
  • 1 tablespoon of basil
  • 2 tablespoon of sugar
  • 1/2 tablespoon of salt
  • 300 grams of pasta

# – First, throw the diced onion and long beans in a bowl.

# – Followed the pork mince.

# – And then the bread crumbs.

# – Sprinkle mustard powder all over.

# – Don’t forget the salt as well.

# – Using your finger, knead the mixture until everything’s combined.

# – To form the meatball, get a clump of mince, flatten it then place a couple of cream cheese cubes in the middle.

# – Then cover it up and form a ball. Kind of like making glutinous rice balls.

# – Heat up oil in preferably a non-stick pan, place the balls in it to brown. Don’t crowd the pan so that the balls will cook evenly.

# – After a few minutes, turn the balls around to cook the other side. Turn them occasionally so that all sides are browned evenly. After all the meatballs are browned, set aside.

# – Now, to make the tomato sauce. In another pan, brown some onions and then dump in two cans of plum tomatoes. Cut the tomatoes if they’re not already cut. Throw in the thyme.

# – Followed by basil. I used dried herbs but you can of course substitute with fresh herbs :)

# – Stir in the sugar to offset the tang.

# – Then, dump in all the meatballs to simmer for a further 10 minutes. Make sure all the balls are evenly coated by the tomato sauce.

# – In the meantime, cook 300 grams of pasta according to the instructions on packet.

# – When pasta’s done, drain it, serve on a plate and pour the tomato sauce and meatballs over it. Stuffed pork meatballs pasta, DONE! This recipe serves 4.

# – Cut into the ball…

The pork meatballs were very well seasoned with a creamy middle. I love it cause I could taste the cheese, which is a pleasant contrast from the dense, juicy meat. BF was shooting me loving looks everytime he took a bite :D

I think this was my better attempt with pork meatballs (compared to my first experience) because the balls really held their shapes.

I think it’s because the mince were a tad on the fatty side…which really helped the meatball in holding its spherical form. So if you’re looking to make pork meatballs, try to buy mince that are interspersed with a lot of lard :D

Steamed pork and fish meatloaf recipe.

This was supposed to be an authentic Indonesian “otak-otak” (that’s what the recipe book claimed anyway). I was quite excited to make it, since I had one frozen dory left and I was itching to use it.

Alas, luck was not on my side as I realised the dory was too small even for 1 person…

So, without so much of a blink, I decided to incorporate pork into the dish. And hence, the dish had to be renamed to “Steamed pork & fish meatloaf”. I’ll make real otak-otak another time..

# – Steamed pork & fish meatloaf, served with rice.

Funny thing was, the BF was unable to ascertain that there was pork in there. I guess if you blitzed the mixture fine enough you really can’t tell what it is. He was really surprised to know that there was pork!

The ingredients:

  • 200 grams of pork, cut into cubes
  • 120 grams of boneless white fish fillet (I used dory), cut into cubes
  • 1 onion, chopped
  • 5-7 shallots
  • 3 cloves of garlic
  • 100 ml of coconut milk
  • 1 teaspoon of white pepper
  • 1 tablespoon of lime or lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon of chilli powder
  • 1 teaspoon of salt

# – First of all, chuck the fish into a blender or food processors. Give it a blitz.

# – Then, add the pork.

# – Followed by the shallots, garlic cloves & chopped onion.

# – Pour in the coconut milk. Blend till combined.

# – Add the salt, lemon/lime juice, white pepper and chilli powder.

# – Blend till fine.

# – Lay a clingwrap film over a chopping board.

# – Scoop half the paste onto the middle of the film.

# – Fold the bottom part of the film over the paste.

# – Then fold the part with the paste inside over the top of the film.

# – Tie a knot on each end to form a sort of Christmas popper shape…like this.

# – Wrap the parcels in aluminium foil.

# – Stick them in the steamer for 20 minutes.

# – When it’s done, cut the clingwrap film and carefully remove it. Let the loaf stays in the foil.

# – This is optional, but you could use a kitchen torch to crispen the top a bit. Otherwise stick in the oven in grill mode for 5 minutes at 210 degrees celcius.

# – Steamed pork and fish meatloaf, DONE! Instead of rice, you can serve it with grated cauliflower for a slow carb option.

The looks were nothing to shout about but it was juicy, tender and very flavoursome. It’s also really healthy because as you probably have noticed, there’s not a drop of oil used in making this dish!

Hate it or Love it Pork Supreme Recipe.

My apologies for the name of the dish. Honestly, I don’t know what to call it. It’s nothing like I’ve ever tasted before and it’s not even a real dish as far as I’m concerned.

I was having a bad case of monthlies (I still am, actually) but dinner needed to be cooked. I opened my fridge and the bottles of hot broad bean sauce and tamarind paste happened to be right in front of me. I couldn’t even muster up the strength to push the bottles away and check out what other ingredients were behind them.

Not to mention, I should have used chicken stock or something but my legs were so wobbly I wasn’t sure if I could stand long enough to dissolve some chicken stock cubes in water so I ended up using apple juice instead. Which, of course was conveniently located right next to the bottle of tamarind sauce.

The result was a dish of tender pork cubes submerged in a rich, flavoursome, sweet and sourish sauce with a bit of heat to boot. Surprisingly quite a lot of depth of flavours for something cooked under the influence of blood loss and pain killers.

For the marinade:

  • 300 grams of pork, cut into cubes
  • 1 tablespoon of corn flour
  • 1 tablespoon of chinese rice wine
  • 1 tablespoon of oyster sauce

For the sauce:

  • 1 tablespoon of hot broad bean paste (dao ban jiong)
  • 1/2 tablespoon of tamarind paste
  • 1 tablespoon of garlic, minced
  • 1 tablespoon of shallots, minced
  • 1 tablespoon of ginger, minced
  • 100 ml of pure apple juice

# – First, marinade the pork for at least 1 hour in the chinese rice wine, corn flour and oyster sauce. Keep chilled in the fridge till ready to be used.

# – In a pan, fry up the minced garlic, ginger and shallots.

# – Add a tablespoon of hot broad bean sauce.

# – Followed by half a tablespoon of tamarind paste.

# – Next, throw in the pork. Stir.

# – Add the apple juice. If you don’t like too much sauce, reduce liquid by half. Stir till pork’s cooked through.

# – Hate it or Love it Pork Supreme, DONE!

The sauce was appetising and wonderful with rice. As the title goes, you may either hate or love this dish. I say this because it’s a very interesting and unique flavour (no, not in a repulsive sort of way hahaha). My best suggestion is to try it out and then decide for yourself.

That said, the next time I make this dish (yes, I’ll make it again), I would make a few changes though. For one, I will cut the pork into thin square slices rather than cubes and brown them in a pan first before chucking them into the sauce…purely for texture & aesthetic reasons.

Have a good week peeps!