TO-MAY-TOW. TO-MAH-TOW.

We prefer locally grown hard-neck garlic for all our recipes that utilize garlic.  The stuff you’ll find in most grocery stores is soft-neck garlic, usually imported from China.  Hard-neck garlics come in varieties like Porcelain White, Rocambole, German Hearty, and Music.  I encourage you, if you’re fans of garlic like we are, find a farmer’s market and pick up some hard-neck garlic and give it a try!

To Start

You’ll find this is a simple recipe to pull together.  First you will want to  combine the ground beef, rice, water, basil, salt and pepper, and the two minced garlic cloves in a mixing bowl and mix well.  Getting your freshly washed hands in there to mix by hand is they easiest way to accomplish this.

Then, roll the ground beef mixture into golf ball size balls and place into a 9×9 baking pan.

Next

Add the tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce and water into bowl and mix thoroughly.  Pour this mixture over the porcupine balls.

Cook

Cover pan with foil and place into a 375 F oven for 35 minutes.

After 35 minutes, remove foil and continue cooking for another 10 minutes.

Check center of porcupines with an instant read thermometer until they read at least 160 F.

Ready to serve!

When cooking these, the porcupines around the edge of the pan will cook faster than those in the center. Around the half way mark, I move the center porcupines to the edges and some of the porcupines from the edges back to the center to even out the cooking.  Another simple home cooked meal using ground beef is our Homemade Sloppy Joes.  Check ’em out!

Tomato Basil Porcupines

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Serves: 4 Prep Time: 15 minutes Cooking Time: 45 minutes 45 minutes

Nutrition facts: 312 calories 8.3 fat

Rating: 5.0/5

( 1 voted )

Ingredients

• 1 pound lean ground beef
• 1/2 cup instant brown rice
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 tbsp. fresh basil
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 tsp. pepper
• Sauce:
• 1 can (15 oz.) tomato sauce
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce

Instructions

1. Combine in a mixing bowl the ground beef, rice, water, basil, salt and pepper, and two minced garlic cloves.
2. Mix well.
3. In a 9 inch x 9 inch baking pan; roll the ground beef mixture into golf ball size balls, place into pan.
4. Once all the ground beef mixture has been made into balls, add the tomato sauce, Worcestershire sauce and water into bowl.
5. Mix the sauce to combine the ingredients and pour over the meatballs in the pan.
6. Cover pan with foil and place into a 375 F oven for 35 minutes.
7. After 35 minutes, remove foil and continue cooking for another 1o minutes.
8. Check center of porcupines with an instant read thermometer until they read at least 160 F.

Serve. Enjoy.

Notes

We often double this recipe so that we have leftovers to reheat for future meals. I often make mashed potatoes along with the porcupines and to serve I place the mashed potatoes in a serving size bowl and place porcupines on top, along with some of the sauce. When cooking these, the porcupines around the edge of the pan will cook faster than those in the center. Around the half way mark, I often move the center porcupines to the edges and some of the ones at the edges back to the center to even out the cooking.

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