Sausage meatballs in a creamy mustard sauce

On the lookout for comfort food? These sausage meatballs served on a bed of orzo and smothered in a creamy mustard sauce might be right up your street.

This easy meatball recipe is rich and warm, with a sauce flavoured with thyme and white wine and so simple to make. I make the meatballs from sausages, which is such a time saver and honestly you'll never go back. The pork is ready minced and flavoured, so all you need to do is remove the casing and away you go. Wondering how to remove sausage casing? You literally just snip the tip off the casing and then slide the meat out of the tube. It's both gross and satisfying at the same time.

This dish makes a great dinner that's ready in under 40 minutes, and it's perfect for beginner home cooks too. I like to use white wine in it, but you could also use vermouth or even sherry.

This sausage meatball recipe is wonderfully cosy to eat in colder weather, or at times when you need a hug that's in food form.

I am on a bit of a comfort food streak at the moment, so if you like the sound of this recipe, you'll probably want to take a look at this gnocchi al forno as well that I cooked up last week. Anyway, onto the good stuff!

Jump to:

• Ingredients
• Instructions
• Variations and substitutions
• Equipment
• Storage
• Top tip
• Sausage meatballs with creamy mustard sauce
• Food safety

Ingredients

• Sausages
• Cooking oil
• Shallot
• Garlic
• Thyme
• Cream (heavy cream/double cream)
• Dijon mustard
• White wine
• Lemon juice
• Chicken broth/stock
• Orzo
• Salt and pepper

See the recipe card for quantities.

Instructions

Dice your shallot and garlic and heat some oil over medium in a large skillet or shallow casserole dish.

Remove the sausages from their casing, creating two meatballs from each sausage.

Shape the sausage meat quickly with your hands into a more round shape, then add to the dish and brown on all sides.

Add the shallot and fry for a few minutes, before adding the garlic and half of the thyme leaves for a further minute.

Add the wine and chicken stock, bring to a simmer and reduce it by half.

Over low heat, stir in the cream and then add the mustard.

Cook the orzo in a saucepan of boiling salted water, and then drain.

Season with salt and pepper to taste, and stir through the lemon juice.

Serve the sausage meatballs on a bed of the orzo, and then drizzle over the warm creamy mustard sauce and some more fresh thyme leaves.

Hint: If the sausage meat starts to stick when you're frying the meatballs, add a splash of the wine into the pan to help deglaze it.

Variations and substitutions

If you know how to make the recipe fit a certain diet, let the reader know here. Don't fake it - only provide guidance on topics you have actual experience with.

• Meat - instead of pork sausages, you could use chicken
• Rice - Serve this sausage meatball recipe with rice rather than orzo to make it gluten free
• Cheese - if you're pondering whether or not you could also add cheese to this, you're on my wave length. I reckon some tangy parmesan would taste banging sprinkled on top.

Equipment

I made this in a shallow enamelled cast-iron casserole dish and yes it was from Le Creuset because I am unoriginal and obsessed with them. But it lasts forever and comes in pretty colours so...

It's this one in case you were after one yourself.

Storage

Store any leftovers in the fridge and reheat gently. Good for 2-3 days.

These ingredients don't stand up well to freezing.

Top tip

If you want your meatballs to stay crispy on the outside, take them out of the pan before making the sauce. I'm just lazy and prefer to make things with as few things to wash up as possible afterwards. Remove this block, and replace it with the recipe card here

Food safety

• Cook to a minimum temperature of 165 °F (74 °C)
• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat
• Wash hands after touching raw meat
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods
• Never leave cooking food unattended
• Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds
• Always have good ventilation when using a gas stove

See more guidelines at USDA.gov.