Swiss Stuffed Venison Bratwurst Meatballs

A little over a year ago, we first attempted cheese stuffed meatball when we cooked Smoked Mozzarella Stuffed Meatballs. Since that point, we have been thinking about making more cheese stuffed meatballs, and I’m a little ashamed to note how long it took for us to make these. But, with a humble request for forgiveness, we present these morsels of deliciousness!

We started by picking our cheese, and we went with the iconic Swiss cheese, Emmentaler. We wanted to go that route because it melts really well but doesn’t “lava flow” too much if it happens to escape its meat encasement. Cheese decision made, we turned our attention to the meat, and we wanted to use some Germanic/Swiss flavours to complement the cheese. So, we broke out some salt, caraway seed, white pepper, marjoram, and allspice to make a bratwurst style meat! We went with ground venison for ours, but pork would work really well too.

We served our meatballs over a thickened mushroom sauce alongside Rösti and steamed broccoli.

Time: 30 Minutes

Ingredients:

• For your Meatballs:
  • Ground Venison (or Ground Pork). 1 Lb makes about 12-13 meatballs.
  • Salt
  • Ground Caraway Seed
  • Marjoram
  • Allspice
  • Ground White Pepper
  • Egg
  • Bread Crumbs
  • Emmentaler (or other Alpine Cheese)
• For your Optional Sauce:
  • 1 Tablespoon Butter
  • 2 Tablespoons of All Purpose Flour
  • 1 Cup of Stock (Beef, Vegetable, or Mushroom)
  • Black Pepper

Method:

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F, and line a baking sheet with foil. Give the foil a little oil spray to prevent sticking.
• Slice your cheese into roughly 1/2″ x 1/2″ squares, and separate the pieces on your cutting board. (Reason for this is if you don’t use them all, the unused ones will be untouched by meat hands, and can thus become snacks as your meatballs cook).
• Add your meat into a mixing bowl, and sprinkle in your seasonings. Then, add in your egg and bread crumbs, and mix by hand to fully incorporate.
• Scoop a few ounces of meat, and flatten into your palm. Add a cheese square to the middle, and wrap your meat around the cheese. Make sure the cheese is fully encased to reduce the odds of a cheese leak during cooking. Then, place on your baking sheet. Repeat until all of your meatballs are made.
• Place your meatballs in the oven, and bake for 10 minutes.
• Rotate your meatballs, and cook for another 10 minutes.
• As your meatballs cook, turn your attention to your (optional) sauce:
  • Make a Roux by melting your butter in a saucepan and then whisking in some flour. Let sit for a minute or two over low heat.
  • Pour in your stock while continuing to whisk to fully incorporate it and remove any lumps.
  • Sprinkle in your black pepper, and turn the heat up while whisking to thicken.
• Arrange your sauce on the bottom of your plate, and place your finished meatballs on top to plate.
• Devour, and enjoy!