Spicy Rice Balls

Porcupine meatballs with attitude. That’s what these are.

Raw long grain rice mixed directly into the ground beef mixture is the trick. As the meatballs bake in the tomato sauce for a full hour, the rice absorbs liquid, cooks through, and pokes out from the surface like little spines. It also keeps the meatballs tender and moist from the inside.

The flavor is bold: horseradish, Worcestershire, dry mustard, garlic, and hot pepper sauce all go into the meat mixture. The baking sauce is tomato soup thinned with water and spiked with more hot sauce.

One hour covered in the oven and the rice is fluffy, the beef is cooked through, and the sauce has thickened into a spicy, tangy glaze.

Kitchen Tips

• Use raw, uncooked rice. Pre-cooked rice turns to mush during the hour-long bake. The raw grains need that cooking time to absorb liquid and puff up.
• Keep the meatballs small, about 1 inch. Larger balls take longer to cook through and the rice in the center may stay crunchy.
• Cover the baking dish tightly. The steam trapped inside is what cooks the rice. An uncovered dish dries everything out.

Variations

• Use ground turkey or pork instead of beef for a different flavor.
• Swap tomato soup for enchilada sauce for a Tex-Mex twist.
• Add diced jalapenos to the meat mixture for even more heat.