In honor of St. Patrick’s day this year, I decided to make a play on cabbage rolls… Only to find out afterwards, cabbage rolls aren’t actually Irish… They originate from east-central Europe, like Ukraine. Still seems fitting for the time I suppose.

This dish was originally inspired when I found ground bison at the First Avenue Market in downtown Fargo. I love finding anything local, and it was about $10 a pound. I’ve spent quite a bit more than that at various butcher shops around town. First Avenue Market had a verity of locally sourced goods, and definitely worth checking out if you’re in the Fargo-Moorhead area. I’ll add a link to their website below.

On a totally different note, Kellen told me this is the third best thing I’ve ever made. I didn’t realize he’s been keeping a running tally in his head, but it was very good.

Bison Meatball Ingredients:

Two pounds ground bison
Two cups ground oatmeal - I blended mine in a food processor
One Tbsp cream horseradish- Inglehoffer Brand is what I used
Two Tbsp chopped herbs- I used rosemary, thyme and sage in equal parts
One Shallot- Minced
Two eggs
Three cloves of garlic- minced
Two Tbsp mustard of your choice- I’d recommend dijon or a sweet and spice blend
One and a half tsp salt
One tsp pepper
One tsp smoked paprika
Cooking oil of your choice

Inglehoffer Cream Horseradish

Soup Ingredients:

Three large carrots- peeled and diced
Three stocks of celery- diced
One onion- diced
Half a head of cabbage- chopped
One can of crushed tomatoes.
Two Tbsp of Dijon mustard
One Tbsp cream horseradish
One tsp garlic powder
A few sprigs of sage
Four cups of chicken stock
Cooking oil
Optional:
One tsp Salt- if using store bought stock
Two bay leaves- if using store bought stock
Parmesan for garnish
Thyme for garnish

Meatball Instructions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Heat a drizzle of oil in a pan. (I did this in the soup pot because I was trying to minimize dishes for later! )Add shallot, garlic and herbs. Cook until fragrant and shallot is tender. Three to five minutes.
Scoop mixture into a bowl and allow to cool almost completely.
Add all other ingredients and mix well.
Using a small cookie scooper, or a spoon, scoop mixture and roll into balls using your hands. Place in rows on a cooking sheet. My meatballs were about one and a half inches in size. I wanted them to be relatively small since they were going into a soup.
Place into the oven and bake 20-30 minutes, stirring about midway through.

Soup Instructions:

While the meatballs are baking, heat a drizzle of oil in the pot and add in carrots and celery. Cook for about five minutes, stirring occasionally.
Next add in onion and cook together about another five minutes. Once the onion is tender, add the chicken stock. The carrots and celery won’t be cooked through at this point.
Add in the sage. You can chop it if you want it to be fully incorporated, but I just put the whole sprigs in and pulled them out at the end.
Add the bay leaves and salt if you aren’t using homemade stock. (The reason for this is that my homemade stocks have already been salted and cooked with bay.)
Next add the tomato sauce, Dijon and cream horseradish. Stir well so mustard and horseradish are completely combined.
Cover and allow to simmer about twenty minutes.
By this time the meatballs should be ready to come out of the oven. Remove them from the baking sheet and add them to the soup. Stirring gently so they don’t break apart.
Add in chopped cabbage and stir again.
Return cover and simmer another ten minutes while the cabbage softens.
Serve garnished with parmesan and thyme.

Pairs great with this Dutch-Oven bread. Recipe to come.

First Avenue Market

Cabbage Roll Soup with Bison Meatballs

Gift Giving Ideas- Entertaining