Meatball Spiedini & PW's Mashed Potatoes

Have I mentioned how amazing The Pioneer Woman's recipes are? Seriously. If you want fool proof delicious down home cooking, PW is where it's at. Her stuff is amazing and after I made her mashed potatoes my husband looked at me and said not only were they the best mashed potatoes I've made ever, but that this was the only recipe I would be following from here on out. Let me state here that while I did use PW's recipe I made a bunch of changes to cut down on the fat, I'm sure her's were amazing but my waistline just couldn't justify that much butter.

I saw PW make this on her show and decided that I just had to make them, so I decided to pair them with another one of my favorite recipes - meatball spiedini. For those who are not familiar with spiedini and want to tell me that they look just like a meatball, I tell you that's pretty much what they are. Chicken spiedini, which is a recipe I will put up soon is essentially small pieces of chicken bread and skewered and then baked, meatball spiedini however at the end of the day still look like a meatball though they are a far cry from your grandmothers meatballs in sauce.

The taste however, is what sets them apart. They are delicious and paired with PW's mashed potatoes this is a recipe to celebrate. So much so that I forgot to make a vegetable that night or add a little color to my plate....but hey potatoes count..right?

Meatball Spiedini & PW's Mashed Potatoes
Yield: 4 servings
Prep Time: 45 minutes     I     Cook Time: 30 minutes

Ingredients


For the Spiedini:

• 1 pound chopped meat (I used turkey)
• 1/4 cup unseasoned breadcrumbs
• 1 egg
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt 
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 3 tablespoons white wine
• 6 bay leaves

For the Mashed Potatoes:

• 3 lbs potatoes (any kind, I prefer to use New Red Potatoes)
• 1/4 cup butter
• 4 oz cream cheese softened
• 2 tablespoons half and half
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper

First up get your potatoes cooking in a big pot of salted boiling water. I cook them with the skins on and peel them later when the skin comes off nice and easy. Let the potatoes cook down a while you're going to want them nice and soft.

In the meantime put your chopped meat and all of the ingredients except for the wine and bay leaves in a large mixing bowl and using her hands (or a spatula) mix the ingredients until they are all incorporated. When forming the meatball if the mixture is too wet add a little more breadcrumb and if it's too dry just add some more olive oil. You want a very moist meatball but not one that is falling apart when you to go form it. 

Once that is done start to form small meatballs, approximately 1 inch x 2 inch and place them in a greased glass baking dish. It's okay if they touch, just keep making them and adding them to the pan until they are all made.

When you have  formed all of the meatballs pour the wine over the tops of them and add the bay leave sporadically throughout the dish. Put them in a 350 degree oven and bake for approximately 20 minutes or until they come out nice and firm. 

While those are baking your potatoes should be done. Pull them from the pot and run them under cold water so you can handle them. Peel the potatoes by pulling the skin off with your hands, it should come off very easily now. 

Once all the potatoes are peeled use a potato masher (not a stand mixer or hand mixer!) to mash your potatoes. I say do it by hand because if you over beat the potatoes they will come out very starchy. When the potatoes are all mashed up add in all of the ingredients less two tablespoons of the butter. Reserve them for a little later.

After the ingredients are all well mixed take a little butter (not your reserves) and grease the pan with it. You can opt to skip this step and just spray with cooking spray too, but the butter does taste good. 

Spoon in the potatoes and break up the remaining butter and place over the top of the potatoes. They will bake into them and give the mashed potatoes a really yummy crust. Place in the oven and bake for approximately 15 minutes.

The original PW's recipe can be found here.