How to cook cutlets from minced hedgehogs. Meat hedgehogs with rice: recipe with photos

This is a very popular recipe in our latitudes, each housewife has her own, because almost everyone who has children prepares hedgehogs from minced meat and rice. Due to the fact that the dish contains rice, meat, and vegetables, and also because of the ease of preparation, delicious hedgehogs are an ideal dish for children and adults in every family.

After the main recipe with photos you will find several variations. They will come in handy if only because they will help make a familiar dish new. They will also be useful for those who do not like tomato juice. In any case, hedgehogs with rice are always tasty and satisfying.

Taste Info Meat main courses

Ingredients

Minced meat (pork or mixed) – 0.5 kg;
Rice – 0.15 kg;
Oil (sunflower or olive, refined) – 50–60;
Juice (tomato, unclarified) – 0.4 l;
Onions – 1 pc.;
Carrots – 1 pc. (large);
Salt - to taste, but not less than 0.5 tsp;
Pepper (ground) – approximately 0.5 tsp;

Cooking time: 20 minutes + 40 minutes for stewing.

How to cook minced hedgehogs with rice

The recipe for hedgehogs made from minced meat and rice differs from similar meatballs in only one way - to prepare them, the rice is not boiled first, and therefore after stewing, the rice funny sticks out of the meatballs, reminiscent of hedgehog spines.

For this dish I used mixed minced meat - pork and chicken 2:1. It is ideal if you prepare the minced meat yourself. This way you will be confident in the quality of the meat, especially if the dish is prepared for children.

Peel the onions and cut into small cubes. Pour 1/2 the amount of vegetable oil according to the recipe into the frying pan (I use refined sunflower oil for frying, odorless), place the onion in it and fry it until transparent. And then add the peeled, coarsely grated carrots and fry together until the carrots are soft.

Place the prepared minced meat, dry uncooked rice, and fried onions and carrots in a wide and deep bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste - it is better to use fresh, only ground salt and pepper, they highlight the taste of the dish more clearly.

Mix all the ingredients of our hedgehogs thoroughly. It’s most convenient to do this with your hands, so you can really feel how well the minced meat is brought to homogeneity. Some people add an egg to the minced meat to help bind the ingredients together, but I don’t use it as the white makes the hedgehogs tougher. The minced meat molds perfectly even without adding an egg.

Heat the remaining vegetable oil in a frying pan. With wet hands, form small balls 4-5 cm in diameter and place them in the hot oil. Fry on one side over medium heat for 3-5 minutes.

Turn the future hedgehogs over to the other side and fry for another 3 minutes. We do this so that after stewing, the hedgehogs keep their shape and do not fall apart.

Place the fried hedgehog balls in a thick bottom pan. If your frying pan is wide, you can stew the hedgehogs in it.

Pour tomato juice over the balls and add salt to taste.

Simmer the dish after boiling over very low heat for 40 minutes, the balls will increase in volume due to the fact that the rice absorbs the liquid.

Serve minced hedgehogs with rice in portions, hot with a side dish of fresh or baked vegetables. Top with sour cream or your favorite sauce.

Hedgehogs with rice in the oven in tomato sauce

Here, instead of tomato juice, we will pour a specially prepared sauce over the hedgehogs and simmer them in the oven. Our hedgehogs will be more “adult”, since children cannot eat a lot of spices. But they taste amazing and are very soft.

Ingredients for hedgehogs we will take the same amount of products as in the main recipe.

But let’s prepare the filling differently, for it you need:

Tomatoes (canned, non-spicy) – 1 can (0.4 kg);
Pepper (sweet, preferably red) – 0.15 kg;
Garlic – 2 cloves;
Onion – 1 pc. (large);
Greens (basil, dill, parsley, cilantro) - 1 bunch, if not, you need to take - 1/4 tsp. each dry seasoning.
Oil (olive, unrefined) – 40 g;
Broth (vegetable, whichever you like best) – 0.4 l.;
Coriander – 1/4 tsp.
Salt (at least 0.5 tsp), and black pepper - at your discretion.

Cooking method:

We prepare the hedgehogs themselves as in the main recipe, and then prepare the sauce separately.
And we do it this way: first, fry the garlic in well-heated oil, but not for 1 minute. Then add tomatoes and spices (if they are dry), coriander, salt, pepper, simmer for 5-7 minutes, then rub through a sieve and place again in a hot frying pan, add finely chopped pepper to the mixture and simmer for another 7 minutes. After Add 2 cups of vegetable broth and if the greens are fresh, add them after chopping them.
Now pour our sauce over the hedgehogs so that they are just covered. Place in the oven and simmer over low heat for no more than 40 minutes.

Serve the hedgehogs hot, topped with the remaining gravy or sauce. It will be very tasty and spicy.

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Hedgehogs with minced chicken rice and sour cream sauce

Not all kids love tomato paste; many refuse it. For those picky eaters, I suggest preparing tender hedgehogs with minced chicken and sour cream sauce. Minced chicken hedgehogs with sour cream sauce will turn out tender, juicy and incredibly tasty.

Ingredients for hedgehogs:

For sour cream white dressing you will need:

Sour cream (not thick) – 150 ml;
Broth (vegetable, thick) – 0.4 l;
Flour – 20 g;
Onion - half a large one;
Salt, spices at your discretion;
Butter (butter) – 40 g.

Cooking method:

Chicken fillet needs to be ground into minced meat; if you have ready-made minced meat, you can use it. Add pepper and a couple of spoons of sour cream to the minced meat, and the same amount of softened butter (preferably butter) and leave to stand.
Meanwhile, cook half the onion and carrots in a frying pan. Fry them until golden brown.
Now add together the minced meat, onions and carrots fried in a frying pan, and dry rice. Salt everything and mix well, let stand for a while.
Then roll into balls with wet hands and fry on both sides in a frying pan.
While the minced meat is standing, prepare the sour cream sauce. For it, take the onion and fry it with oil in a frying pan until transparent. Then rub the onion with flour and mix well, carefully pour the sour cream on top in a thin stream and immediately add the boiling broth. Simmer everything in a frying pan for 10 minutes over low heat. Attention, add salt and spices only before removing.
After the hedgehogs are fried on both sides, put them in a pan or pour sour cream sauce over them, and then simmer for 20–25 minutes over very low heat.
Serve the meat hedgehogs with rice hot, pour over the remaining sauce. If you don't have it, just add sour cream. It will be very tasty.

Hedgehogs with rice and gravy in a frying pan

If you don’t want to bother too much with preparing the gravy, you can prepare this option; it will make the cooking shorter and require less time and effort.

Ingredients:

For homemade red gravy you need:

Tomato juice – 0.4 l;
Onion - half if large or 1 medium;
Carrots – 1 pc. (small);
Bell pepper – 150 g (1 large);
Salt – 0.5 tsp;
Pepper (ground) – 0.5 tsp.

Cooking method:

For this recipe we need a deep frying pan with a thick bottom. It is important that our rice urchins do not burn. And we can only cook as many hedgehogs as will fit in it.

Cooking hedgehogs:

First, fry the onion until transparent, then add finely grated carrots to it and also simmer in oil.
Next, in a large bowl, mix the minced chicken, dry rice, frying and 2 tbsp. l softened butter. Salt and pepper the mixture. Let our minced meat stand.
At this time, prepare the dressing in a frying pan. To do this, fry the onion again and add coarsely grated carrots to it. Fry until golden.
Then add very finely chopped bell pepper and spices, salt the mixture. When the mixture begins to boil, reduce the heat slightly to medium.
Next, we roll the meat mixture into hedgehogs and place them in our gravy in a frying pan. Now fry everything in a frying pan. Be careful not to burn the seasoning.
When the hedgehogs are fried on both sides, pour tomato juice into the pan and add spices, again salt to taste. You can put 1-2 tbsp. l. butter or olive oil.
Now close everything with a lid and simmer over low heat for another 30-40 minutes.
Serve the hedgehog balls with gravy and hot.

Hedgehogs with bechamel sauce

If you decide to cook beef hedgehogs, then serve them with bechamel sauce.

This original sauce is very tasty in itself, and our hedgehogs with minced beef rice will acquire an exquisite taste with it. They can also be served at the holiday table.

Children will also like these hedgehogs with sauce if you serve the sauce with meat broth. For adults, I recommend preparing the sauce with mustard.

Ingredients:

Minced meat (beef) – 0.5 kg;
Rice – 0.15 kg;
Oil (vegetable) – 70–80;
Sour cream (thick and fatty) – 60 g;
Onion (onion) – no more than half a large onion.;
Carrots – 1 piece (medium size);
Fill:
Broth (we have meat, thick) – 0.5 l
Spices at your discretion.

For bechamel sauce we need:

Milk – 0.4 l (necessarily boiled);
Flour – 80 gr.;
Butter (butter) – 50 g.
Pepper (black, ground) – 0.5 tsp;
Walnut (nutmeg) – 1/4 tsp.

Add to the finished sauce as desired:

Cooking method:

Prepare the ground beef and add sour cream and salt to it, let it sit for a little (10 minutes) and add the remaining ingredients: dry rice, fried onions and carrots. Then we form balls and fry them in refined vegetable oil.
After that, put it in a saucepan with a thick bottom and fill it with meat broth and spices (to your taste, I put bay leaf, celery and a mixture of peppers). Or we prepare a dressing from 0.5 liters of boiled water, butter and olive oil and pork fat (take 3 tablespoons in total) and 1 tsp. salt. We also add spices to the water.
Then, put our hedgehogs in the oven and simmer for 30–40 minutes at 160–180 C. You can also cook over fire, but you need a saucepan with a thick bottom or non-stick coating. The fire here is weak.
When the hedgehogs are ready, remove them from the heat.

Bechamel sauce

Melt the butter in a deep frying pan and remove from heat. Now add flour to it and mix well. Put the milk back on the fire and cook until our sauce begins to thicken, now add the remaining milk and add pepper (ground), salt, nutmeg (grated). Let it boil some more and remove from heat. During cooking, the sauce must be stirred all the time, and it must be cooked only over low heat.
And you need to take the milk already boiled, so it won’t run away.
After removing from the heat, the sauce should be transferred to a dry container and allowed to cool. And only then add your choice of table mustard, tomato paste or meat broth. It is not necessary to bring the sauce to a homogeneous consistency. Let it be with beautiful red or mustard stripes.

When serving the hedgehogs, pour our sauce over them. It will be both beautiful and tasty.

Cooking tips:

Always simmer hedgehogs until all the water has evaporated. They will be tight and will not fall apart.
Make sure that the moisture evaporates, but the balls or mixture do not burn.
If the hedgehogs burn, it means your heat is too high or the bottom of your pan is thin. Place a layer of grated carrots on the bottom of the pan, and place the balls on it, so they don’t burn.
Cooked balls with tomato paste or sauce can be served without gravy or sauce, but those with sour cream dressing are always served with herbs or green onions.
Pour the dressing so that it covers the hedgehogs by 1 cm. When the rice has absorbed the liquid by half, place a piece of butter on top of each hedgehog. It will be very tasty. Instead of butter, you can put a pile of grated hard cheese, which will then melt and the hedgehogs will turn out even tastier.

Hedgehogs are a very juicy and tender variation on the theme of meatballs. This dish is literally made for family dinners, suitable for even the smallest eaters. It owes its name to its appearance; the “needles” of the dish are provided by the addition of rice to the minced meat.

True, they will stick out funny only if you put the cereal raw, otherwise you will end up with ordinary-looking, but still very tasty meat balls. Moreover, the rice should be long, not round.

For minced meat, you can choose absolutely any type of meat or fish. The main thing is its juiciness. Therefore, we recommend not using beef in its pure form, but diluting it with pork or chicken.

To keep the hedgehogs in shape and increase their satiety, bread crumbs, flour, and breadcrumbs are often added, and carrots and onions will help make the taste fresher. This dish is usually not pampered with spices, limiting itself to the classic salt and pepper.

Minced hedgehogs with rice in the oven - step-by-step photo recipe

The good thing about hedgehogs is that you don’t have to prepare a side dish for them. After all, they already contain rice. Many people confuse this dish with meatballs. However, the latter differ in that the rice is pre-boiled before mixing with minced meat. When cooking hedgehogs, this need disappears.

Cooking time: 1 hour 15 minutes

Quantity: 4 servings

Ingredients

Minced meat (it can be beef, chicken, or mixed): 400 g
Rice (it is best to take long grain, but not parboiled): 300 g
Onion: 1-2 pcs.
Carrots: 1 pc.
Sour cream: 2 tbsp. l.
Tomato paste: 2 tbsp. l.
Cheese: 70-100 g
Egg: 1 pc.
Salt, spices:

Cooking instructions

How to cook meat hedgehogs with gravy?

Although hedgehogs and meatballs are very similar to each other, we do not forget that these dishes are still different. Therefore, in this case, the meat balls should not be fried, thereby depriving them of their very essence - the protruding needles.

To make tomato gravy, you can use ground tomatoes, homemade juice or tomato paste.

Required ingredients:

0.5 kg minced meat;
½ tbsp. rice;
1+1 onion (for hedgehogs and for gravy);
1 cold egg;
3 tomatoes;
1 medium carrot;
1 tbsp. flour;
salt, sugar, pepper, herbs.

Cooking steps:

Boil the rice until half cooked.
To form “hedgehogs” we take twisted meat, finely chopped onion, cooled rice, egg, add salt and pepper, mix thoroughly.
We roll the resulting minced meat into small balls, which should be placed on the bottom of a thick-walled saucepan or pan. There will be quite a bit of gravy, so whatever the container you choose, its sides should be high. Ideally, lay out all the meat balls in one layer, but if this doesn’t work out, then it’s not a problem, we place them on the second floor.
For the gravy, fry grated carrots with chopped onions in a frying pan; when the frying is ready, add tomatoes pureed in a blender or paste diluted in water. After a couple of minutes, add flour, mix and continue frying for about 30 seconds, pour in about 3 tbsp in a thin stream. boiling water, stir immediately, allowing the flour to disperse evenly, bring to a boil, continuing to stir.
Add salt, dried herbs, spices and sugar to the gravy to your taste. The last ingredient is required, otherwise our sauce will lose much of its taste.
Pour the sauce over the hedgehogs and simmer covered for up to half an hour.

Hedgehogs in a slow cooker - recipe

Required ingredients:

0.5 kg headlight;
1 carrot;
1 onion;
1 bell pepper;
half a multi-cooker measuring cup of rice;
40 ml tomato paste;
2 tbsp. l. flour;
100 g sour cream;
salt, spices, herbs.

Cooking steps hedgehogs in a slow cooker:

We prepare cleanly washed and peeled vegetables: grate the carrots on a medium grater, finely chop the onion, cut the pepper into thin strips..
Diligently and tastefully beat the minced meat on the table for a couple of minutes, add half of the prepared onion, rice, and spices to it.
Saute the remaining vegetables on the “Baking” for about a quarter of an hour.
While the vegetables are being cooked in the slow cooker, mix sour cream with tomato and flour, pour 400 ml of boiling water into them, stir until smooth.
Place rice and meat balls on the vegetables, pour in the resulting sauce and cook on “Stew” for 1.5 hours.

If you cook “hedgehogs” in the double boiler mode, you get a dietary or children’s version of the dish.

Recipe for hedgehogs in a frying pan

Required ingredients:

0.5 kg minced meat;
1 onion;
2 garlic cloves;
1 egg;
30-40 ml of tomato sauce or paste;
1 carrot;
a bunch of greenery;
100 g rice;
2 tbsp. flour;
100g sour cream;
½ tbsp. water.

Cooking procedure hedgehogs in a frying pan:

Grind the peeled carrots, garlic cloves and onions in a blender or by hand.
Finely chop the greens (dill, parsley); to give the dish a Mediterranean touch, you can add basil.
Mix the minced meat with vegetables, add raw or semi-cooked rice, herbs and egg. Stir, add salt and pepper. The resulting mass should be homogeneous, thoroughly mixed, and soft.
We make neat koloboks, roll them in flour to give an appetizing crust.
Fry the meat balls in oil on all sides. Our hedgehogs are ready! If desired, you can prepare the sauce.
Mix sour cream, preferably homemade, tomato sauce, a little salt and hot water, mix.
Pour the gravy over our “urchins” and simmer over low heat until the sauce thickens. Usually this action takes no more than half an hour.

Hedgehogs - recipe for cooking in a saucepan

This recipe is dedicated to all connoisseurs of simple, but very tasty and satisfying dishes.

To prepare it necessary:

0.9 kg minced meat;
100 g rice;
1 onion;
½ tbsp. homemade cream4
2 tbsp. milk;
100 g butter
2 garlic cloves;
2 yolks.

Cooking steps:

Grate the peeled onion on a coarse grater or pass it through a blender.
Mix the minced meat with rice and onions until smooth.
From the rice-meat mass we form cones 5 cm in diameter.
Place a small piece of butter on the bottom of a thick-walled pan, after it has melted, place the meat balls on top, fill them halfway with water, cover with a lid and bring to a boil. After which the fire can be reduced to a minimum. The total simmering time is about 45 minutes, while the “hedge” should be turned periodically.
Prepare the cream sauce in a small saucepan. Melt 50 g of butter at the bottom, fry chopped garlic on it, after a minute add cream, and after another couple - milk. Do not bring the mixture to a boil, simmer over low heat for about 5 minutes.
Beat the yolks thoroughly, pour in the sauces, and continue to simmer for another 10 minutes. The main thing is not to let it boil! Add salt to taste.
Remove the finished meat balls from the heat, pour in the sauce and let it brew.

Hedgehogs in sour cream sauce

Required ingredients:

0.5 kg minced meat:
0.1 kg rice;
1 egg;
1 carrot;
1 onion;
100 g butter;
greens, salt, pepper;
50 ml tomato sauce;
200 g sour cream;
0.5 liters of low-fat broth;
1 tbsp. premium flour.

Cooking steps“hedgehogs” in sour cream filling:

We rinse the rice until it is clean, boil it, place it in a colander and rinse again, letting the excess liquid drain.
Peel and chop the onions and carrots by hand or in a blender, fry them in half the oil.
Beat the egg.
Finely chop the greens.
Add cooled rice, fried vegetables, tomato, egg, chopped herbs to the minced meat, add salt, pepper and mix thoroughly by hand.
We form balls from the minced meat and fry them a little.
Pour flour into a clean and dry hot frying pan, fry it until it acquires a golden hue, remove from heat, and cool. Separately mix the sour cream with the warm broth, pour the resulting mixture into the flour, stir until smooth, add salt.
We put the “edges” in a deep form, not close to each other, and fill them with sauce. Bake in the center of a hot oven for about 45 minutes. Serve sprinkled with herbs, accompanied by vegetable salad.

This meat dish turns out to be quite interesting and unusual in taste. It can be prepared both for everyday meals for the whole family with any side dish, and for a holiday table. Today I will tell you how to cook delicious minced hedgehogs with rice and gravy, and then a step-by-step recipe with photos. And making these meaty and delicious balls is very simple and quick, you don’t need to spend too much time on them.

You can prepare meat hedgehogs from any minced meat, pork, beef or chicken. They are especially delicious with sour cream sauce.

How to make meat hedgehogs with minced meat and rice

Products:

For hedgehogs

Minced meat – 400 gr.
Egg – 1 pc.
Onions – 2-3 pcs.
Carrot – 1 pc.
Garlic – 4-5 cloves.

For the sauce

Sour cream – 200 gr.
Tomato sauce – 200 gr.
Some water

Step-by-step recipe for cooking meat hedgehogs with minced meat and rice

First, rinse the rice thoroughly and boil in salted water until half cooked. When the rice is cooked, drain off the excess water and let it cool slightly.

In the meantime, cook the rice, peel the onions and carrots, wash them. Cut the onion into small pieces and grate the carrots on a coarse grater.

Place the onion in a frying pan and fry until golden brown.

Place carrots in the fried onions and fry until the carrots are ready. Let cool slightly.

Peel the garlic too and chop finely.

Place minced meat, rice, fried onions and carrots in a separate large bowl, add egg, salt, spices, chopped garlic and mix everything thoroughly.

Form small balls from the resulting mass and place them in a frying pan or other container (for example, a duck pot, or a multicooker vat). It all depends on where you will cook meat hedgehogs: on gas, in the oven, or in a slow cooker.

Now let's prepare sour cream sauce for meat hedgehogs with rice and minced meat.

Place sour cream and sauce in a separate container, add a little water, add salt and stir until smooth.

Pour the resulting sauce into a frying pan with meat hedgehogs and put on fire. Cover the pan with a lid and simmer until tender, about 30-40 minutes. If you want, you can put the frying pan not on gas, but in the oven and bake minced hedgehogs in the oven. You can also stew them in a slow cooker.

Well, that’s all, our delicious minced meat hedgehogs with rice are ready, now they can be served with any side dish. Bon appetit!

Those who have tried to cook a small (or large) frying pan of delicious “hedgehogs” from minced meat with rice know how tasty this dish turns out. Although, both in terms of the list of ingredients and the cooking technique, these are completely ordinary and 100-times tested meatballs, there are several nuances that make the juicy, filling balls “hedgehog-like.” More on this below, in my delicious (I hope) description.

Not a single hedgehog was harmed during the preparation of this dish :-)

Minced meat hedgehogs with rice in a slow cooker

It’s captivating that this dish turns out to be light, light, dietary and juicy. And at the same time satisfying. Eat a few “hedgehogs” (sounds strange, I agree), and the feeling of hunger will subside for a long time. Variegated sauce + tender meat balls + favorite side dish = delicious dinner + compliments from family + good mood.

What we will cook from:

How to cook the most delicious meat “hedgehogs” with rice in a slow cooker:

If you don't like sweet peppers, feel free to exclude them from the list of ingredients. Otherwise, wash the small pod. Remove the stem and seeds. Cut half the pepper into small, small cubes.
Prepare the base for minced meat “hedgehogs”. Minced meat can be used not only combined. Pure pork will do. Or beef. And even “hedgehogs” made from minced chicken will not be dry. Vegetable sauce and cooking in a slow cooker will make the dish tender. Mix the minced meat with chopped pepper. Beat in a large chicken egg. Add rice. There is no need to cook it. It is advisable to use long grain cereals.
Pass a couple of cloves of garlic through a press. No fresh? Granulated will also work. Add salt and a little ground pepper. Use other meat spices if desired. Or ready-made seasoning for cutlets.
Mix the contents of the bowl thoroughly. Knead with your hands until it turns into an elastic mass. If the minced meat is saturated with air, the “hedgehogs” will fall apart, disintegrate and spread apart when frying and stewing in a slow cooker. Therefore, beat off the meat base for future golden rice balls. Throw it on a cutting board several times. The mass will become denser.
Make small “hedgehogs” from minced meat with rice, as in the photo. I didn't bread the meatballs with anything. But if you have a desire, roll them in flour or crushed breadcrumbs.
Pour a little oil into the multicooker bowl. Fry the balls on one side until golden brown. Mode – “Frying”. Time – 3-4 minutes.
Carefully turn the “hedgehogs” onto the other side. Wait until a golden brown crust appears on it. If you have a small multicooker bowl, like I do, you will have to fry the hedgehog balls in several batches. When all are ready, place them back into the slow cooker. And start preparing the sauce.
Of course, vegetables for the sauce can be prepared at the same time as frying. Peel the carrots. Cut into strips. Or grate on a coarse grater. I like the first option better. Firstly, because this is how the carrots retain their shape even after long stewing. Secondly, because I don’t have a regular coarse grater.
Peel the onion too. Finely chop.
Tomatoes. It would be a good idea to peel them. So that small hard particles do not overshadow the tasting of “hedgehogs” made from minced meat with rice. How it's done. Boil the kettle. In the place where the tomato is attached to the stem, make two notches crosswise. Not very deep, just enough to cut the skin. Pour boiling water over the tomatoes. After 7-10 minutes, remove the tomatoes. Remove the skin. And cut the pulp into small cubes. Or puree in a blender.
Add onions, carrots and tomatoes to the hedgehogs. The onion and carrots can be fried separately. Pour in some water or broth. Add a small pinch of pepper and salt. Stir gently. Close the multicooker. Select the “Extinguishing” mode. Cook for 30-40 minutes.
Remove the finished juicy “hedgehogs” from the multicooker and place on a plate. Pour over the colorful vegetable sauce and serve. Serve while the fragrant steam still rises from the delicious diet meatballs. Because the dish is not as tasty when it has cooled down.

Recipe for minced hedgehogs with rice in a frying pan

When I took the lid off the frying pan with ready-made meat “hedgehogs” in a tantalizingly aromatic sauce, I saw a very appetizing still life. And I couldn’t raise my hand to break it even for the sake of a beautiful final photo. Therefore, I publish it as is, in a cozy home setting. You don't mind, do you? I won’t talk for a long time about the taste of the dish. Otherwise it won't be interesting to cook. I’ll limit myself to a laconic “Delicious!”

Ingredients:

minced meat (half pork and beef) – 0.5 kg	sweet, juicy, large carrots – 1 pc.
onion - medium head	greens (dill and parsley) - a small bunch
fresh garlic – 2 medium cloves	long grain rice – 100-120 g
large chicken egg - 1 pc.	flour – 2-3 tbsp. l. (for breading)
vegetable oil – 2-3 tbsp. l.	salt - to taste
ground black pepper - a pinch	sour cream of any fat content – 100 g
tomato paste (ketchup or tomato sauce) – 1-1.5 tbsp. l.	water – 100 ml

How to cook meat “hedgehogs”:

Peel the carrots. Chop coarsely. I chopped the vegetables in a blender, so I didn’t pay much attention to the beauty of the cutting. But you can grate the carrots on a coarse or medium grater.
Chop the onion into random pieces too. Or chop into cubes, like for soup, if you don’t use a blender.
Peel the garlic. Divide each clove into several parts. Or put it through a press.
Grind carrots, onions and garlic in a blender. There is no need to puree it. Let it not be completely uniform. If you initially preferred fine cutting, simply mix the vegetables.
Finely chop clean greens. You can use parsley and garlic. Or give the dish a Mediterranean twist by adding basil. And if you like cilantro, then that will go too.
Mix the minced meat with chopped vegetables. Beat in a chicken egg. Add rice cereal. Raw rice is added to minced meat hedgehogs. But you can bring it to half-ready. It won't harm the dish. Season with salt and pepper. Don't forget the greens.
Mix the minced meat thoroughly with the hedgehog rice. The mass should be homogeneous, smooth and elastic.
Make neat balls. Roll them in flour. You don’t have to bread it, but then you won’t have an appetizing crust.
Fry the meat “hedgehogs” in vegetable oil. The oil should be well heated. And the fire is strong. Brown the balls on one side.
And then carefully turn it over. And wait until a golden crust appears from the other barrel.
While the meatballs are frying, prepare the sauce. It is advisable to use homemade sour cream. It does not curdle when stewed for a long time. The store-bought product will also make a delicious gravy. But it will most likely turn into unappetizing flakes. The tomato component can be any. High-quality or homemade pasta. Favorite spicy ketchup. Or thick tomato sauce. Mix 2 main ingredients. Add some salt.
Add warm boiled water. Stir. Pour the gravy over the hedgehogs into the frying pan. Cover with a lid. Simmer over low heat for 20-25 minutes. During this time, the dish will reach the desired condition. And the sauce will thicken.
Serve the finished hedgehogs immediately. Definitely with potatoes and pickles. Although... Not necessarily. You can cook pasta and lentils. In general, it's up to you.

Bon appetit!

Meat hedgehogs with rice in the oven, or, more simply, meatballs, are a delicious homemade dish for a simple dinner with the family. There is no long preparatory work in terms of pre-frying vegetables and meat, cooking sauce, rice, etc. All actions are performed quickly, without unnecessary manipulations and hassle. The recipe will be useful for both novice housewives and adherents of minimal labor costs in the kitchen.

Hedgehogs differ from classic meatballs in the method of preparation. In this case, raw rice is added to the minced meat. During the process of simmering in the oven, the cereal swells and grains of rice sticking out in different directions, reminiscent of hedgehog needles, form on the surface of the meat balls.

Ingredients:

minced meat (pork + beef) - 500 g;
long grain rice - 100 g;
carrots - 1⁄2 pcs.;
onion - 1 head;
eggs - 2 pcs.;
salt, pepper - to taste;
tomato paste - 1-2 tbsp. spoons;
vegetable oil (for greasing the mold) - 1-2 tbsp. spoons.

In a spacious container, combine minced meat, finely chopped or chopped onion in a blender bowl, and grated carrots.
Beat two eggs and add dry rice (preferably long-grain and unsteamed - then our hedgehogs will turn out to be the most textured).
Add salt/pepper and stir the meat mixture until the components are evenly distributed.
We form small round pieces - meatballs. Place fairly tightly in a lightly oiled baking dish.
Dissolve the tomato paste in a glass of boiling water, add a little salt. Pour the resulting sauce over the meat preparations. If there is not enough filling, add boiling water to the mold, but make sure that the liquid does not completely cover the meatballs - it is necessary that the tops of the “koloboks” peek out from the gravy. The effect of sticking out “rice-needles” is obtained precisely in steam, and not in a liquid medium.
Covering with a lid or tightly covering with foil, place the semi-finished product in an oven preheated to 180 degrees. Bake for 30-40 minutes.
Serve the baked hedgehog meatballs hot, adding fresh herbs and a side dish.

Meat hedgehogs with rice in the oven are ready! Bon appetit!