Hedgehogs, in the culinary sense, are such delicious meatballs that look like funny cartoon hedgehogs from children's illustrations.
They are completely spineless and, on the contrary, melt in the mouth. It is difficult to say how they differ in taste from meatballs, but the original appearance with a slight complication of technology is quite a reasonable price for the kids to sweep the dishes from the plates with enthusiasm.
Chicken hedgehogs with rice - general principles of cooking
• For stuffing, you can choose any part of the bird carcass. The main thing is its juiciness, therefore one should not use only a breast. Stuffing will be ideal if for its preparation to take breast fillet and meat from the hips, in a ratio of 1: 1.
• Vegetables are often added to minced meat. They not only add extra juiciness, but also make the taste of the dish more saturated. Almost always a raw egg is interfered with minced chicken, which makes it more viscous. But, it is worth noting that if the meat mass turned out to be liquid, the egg should not be added, otherwise the forcemeat will flow. Therefore, introduce eggs if necessary, last.
• Spices are practically not used, their choice is limited to ground black pepper, which is seasoned with chicken meat twisted in a meat grinder or chopped with a blender.
• The name of the dish was due to its appearance - sticking sticks in the form of needles. To achieve this effect, it is advisable to use cereals with grains of oblong shape. If the recipe involves boiling, rice is brought only to half-preparedness.
• Hedgehogs are easily cooked in the oven, slow cooker or on the stove in a deep thick-walled pan or a cauldron. In any case, they are poured with sauce. Most often, its basis is water, but for a richer taste you can use any meat broth. Sauces are always seasoned with tomato paste or juice, and fresh tomatoes can also be used. To improve the taste, add sautéed or fresh vegetables to it: onions, carrots, bell peppers. To mitigate, sour cream can be introduced, and flour as a thickener.
• Chicken hedgehogs with rice served with or without garnish. As a side dish, you can cook mashed potatoes, pasta or porridge.
Chicken hedgehogs with rice in tomato sauce (in the oven)
Ingredients:
• boneless chicken breast and thigh fillets - only 700 gr .;
• one bell pepper;
• head of a bitter onion;
• one egg;
• a quarter of a 250 gram glass of rice;
• ground, dried basil;
• one and a half teaspoons of flour;
• refined oil;
• a can of tomatoes canned in their own salty juice - 3 liters.
Cooking method:
1. Wash the meat, cut and grind into minced meat using a blender. You can also use a meat grinder, but then you need to install the smallest grate on it and twist the chicken at least two times.
2. Peel the onion, select seeds from pepper. Rinse and grind in the same way as meat. We put it in a sieve and wait for the juice to flow off, after which we transfer it to the minced meat.
3. Pour the egg into the bowl with minced meat, add the finely ground pepper and the same fine salt, knead thoroughly.
4. We sort the rice, rinse the cereal with cold water and leave it by transferring it to a sieve for drying. We shift the dried rice to the minced meat and once again knead it well.
5. From the jar with tomatoes, drain all the juice and select 100 ml in a cup. Add flour, stir - no lumps should remain. Pour the juice connected to the flour to its main volume, mix.
6. Using wet hands with minced meat, we form large balls and lay them in a refractory form in one layer. Fill with tomato, sprinkle with basil on top and place in a hot oven. Cook hedgehogs at 200 degrees for at least forty minutes.
Steamed diet chicken hedgehogs with rice (in a double boiler)
Ingredients:
• half a kilo of minced meat;
• long-grain rice - 150 gr.;
• one small carrot;
• large onion head;
• large egg;
• non-aromatic oil;
• a sprig of any fresh herbs.
Cooking method:
1. Chicken fillet after washing, cut into pieces, grind in any convenient way into minced meat. Season with pepper and slightly add, add chopped greens.
2. Finely chop the onion and fry the slices until transparent in vegetable oil.
3. Using a medium grater, grind the carrots, add to the onion and stir until cooked until tender. Cool the vegetable frying well, transfer to the minced meat and, breaking the egg into it, mix thoroughly.
4. Without adding salt, until half cooked, boil only a portion of the transferred rice (at least 100 g.). We put it in a colander, rinse and, letting all the liquid drain, mix the boiled rice with minced chicken.
5. The remaining rice is sorted out from the litter and poured into a wide bowl.
6. From the cooked meat mass we form balls and, roll in rice cereal, put them in a steam container (double boiler grid).
7. Fill the third capacity of the double boiler with hot water and install a grid with “hedgehogs”, cover with a lid.
8. Cook on low heat for about 25 minutes, after boiling.
Juicy chicken hedgehogs with rice with sour cream and tomato sauce
Ingredients:
• homemade minced chicken - 500 gr.;
• 200 gr. rice groats;
• a tablespoon of thick unspent tomato paste;
• egg;
• half a glass of drinking water;
• 20% sour cream - 200 gr.
Cooking method:
1. We sort out the rice, rinse and, pouring excess cold water, place on a strong fire. Stirring, wait for boiling, and, reducing heat to medium, boil until half cooked. Water is not salted.
2. We put the boiled rice into a colander and, after washing a little, leave it in it for a while, then transfer it to a bowl with chicken minced meat.
3. Add spices to your liking, break the egg into the meat mass and mix thoroughly until smooth. Then we wet our hands with water and form hedgehogs in the form of small balls.
4. In a frying pan at maximum temperature, warm the oil well and lower the meat balls into it. Fry, often overturning, achieving the formation of a dense golden crust, and transfer to the cauldron. Pour the remaining oil in the pan there.
5. Add the tomato mixed with sour cream, fill the semi-finished products with water so that it slightly covers them. Add quite a bit of salt and, if necessary, spices. We move the cauldron to the fire, bring the sauce to a boil. Then lower the heat and slowly simmer the hedgehogs under the lid for half an hour.
Chicken hedgehogs with rice in vegetable sauce
Ingredients:
• long grain rice cereal - 150 gr.;
• 700 gr. chicken, minced meat;
• a pound of fresh tomato;
• egg;
• fresh garlic - 3 teeth;
• 150 gr. carrots;
• large onion;
• olive or high-quality sunflower oil;
• wheat flour - 10 tbsp. l .;
• fresh dill, optionally a little parsley and fresh basil.
Cooking method:
1. We rinse fig. Fill with water and boil without adding salt until half ready. Then we rinse and dry again, transferring to a sieve or a small colander.
2. While rice is being cooked, for two minutes we dip the tomatoes in boiling water. We cool the tomatoes by placing them in cold water and gently separate the skin from the pulp. Cut into small slices, put in a saucepan. Covering, let in our own juice over medium heat.
3. In parallel, in olive oil, fry the chopped onions until soft. We spread the carrot grated on it on an average grater. Stir well, fry until golden.
4. To softened tomatoes, spread the frying from onions and carrots. Add a little curry and mix thoroughly and simmer for another ten minutes. Then turn it off and cool down a bit.
5. Season the minced meat with ground pepper, add salt if necessary, put chopped herbs and a raw egg, stir thoroughly.
6. We form balls, roll them well in flour and put them in butter heated in a frying pan. Frying from all sides, we shift into a deeper pan or stewpan. Add a glass of water and place on a small fire, simmer for at least a quarter of an hour.
7. Put the slightly cooled vegetable roast in a blender bowl. Add a little dill, parsley and basil, chop. The resulting mashed potatoes are diluted with a glass of boiled (cold) water and poured into meat hedgehogs. After boiling, simmer meatballs in vegetable sauce for ten minutes.
8. At the end, add chopped garlic, mix gently and remove from the stove.
A simple recipe for chicken hedgehogs with rice in tomato and cream sauce for a slow cooker
Ingredients:
• rice groats - 100 gr.;
• 400 gr. minced chicken;
• large onion;
• four small cloves of garlic;
• sweet carrot;
• thick tomato puree - 2 tbsp. l .;
• two branches of fresh dill;
• three tablespoons of liquid, preferably 20%, sour cream.
Cooking method:
1. Pour the cereal onto the table, select litter and damaged grains. Pour into a deep bowl, fill with half a glass of boiling water and set aside for 15 minutes.
2. Peel the carrots and onions, rinse with water and rub both root crops on a coarse grater.
3. Put the minced meat in a bowl with rice and chopped vegetables. Knead thoroughly until smooth. Season with pepper, slightly add.
4. From the prepared meat mass we form ten balls and place them in the cooking bowl.
5. In a deep bowl, mix the tomato with sour cream and dilute the mixture by adding 700 milliliters of cold water. Add a little pepper and paprika. We add salt to our taste, be sure to check the salinity to taste, and, stirring well with a whisk, pour into a bowl. This should be done carefully, trying not to get sauce on the "hedgehogs" so as not to damage them. Pour into the free space between the semi-finished products.
6. Close the lid and start the "Extinguishing" mode for one hour. After stopping the program, sprinkle the dish with finely chopped dill and leave it for five minutes under the lid or on the “Heating”.
Oven baked chicken hedgehogs with rice
Ingredients:
• long-grain, not steamed rice - 300 gr .;
• 400 gr. minced chicken;
• tomato paste - 30 gr.;
• two large onions;
• one carrot;
• 120 grams of medium-sharp, good cheese;
• one bell pepper (red);
• egg;
• 50 ml of 15% sour cream.
Cooking method:
1. The washed, well-dried rice is mixed with minced chicken. Season with pepper and add a little salt. Here, on a medium grater, rub one onion, pour the egg for viscosity and mix.
2. Having received a homogeneous mass, with wetted hands we form hedgehogs - small balls. Spread them in a single layer.
3. We are preparing a gas station. Shred the remaining onion in strips, chop the carrot and pulp of bell pepper in the same way. Strips of vegetables should be thin and not too long.
4. We shift the vegetables into a bowl, mix. Add sour cream mixed with tomato and pour boiled, non-hot water. Well, if there is an opportunity to replace the broth. Pour the dressing into the mold - it should completely cover the meat balls.
5. Cover the container with foil and place in the oven, placing on a roasting pan on an average level. We stand for about half an hour. Then we take it out, remove the foil, sprinkle the hedgehogs with coarsely grated cheese and place it back in the oven for up to 10 minutes.
Chicken hedgehogs with rice - cooking tips and tricks
• Try to use homemade minced meat - twist the meat yourself. If you decide to save time and take a purchase - give preference not to frozen but to chilled semi-finished product.
• Before using the purchased stuffing, be sure to re-twist it in a meat grinder with a fine mesh, it may contain large pieces of fat and meat. Often in the semi-finished product there are small bones.
• It is advisable not to fry the meat balls, since the patties during swelling cannot violate the integrity of the crust and outwardly the hedgehogs will resemble meatballs.
