Braised Meatballs In Mushroom Sauce

Combine meat with breadcrumbs, milk, salt, pepper, basil, oregano and garlic. Mix together well. Shape mixture into 1 1/2 inch (4 cm) meatballs. (You should have 16 to 20 meatballs.)

Arrange meatballs on a lightly oiled cookie sheet and brown under the broiler- about 3 minutes. Turn and brown for another 2-3 minutes. Drain.

Meanwhile, melt butter in a saucepan or Dutch oven. Cook onions until tender and browned and add mushrooms. Cook a few minutes. Sprinkle with flour and brown slightly. Stir in milk, bring to a boil. Add Worcestershire, soy sauce, mustard, salt and pepper. Reduce heat. Add browned meatballs. Simmer gentle 15 minutes.

Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary. Sprinkle with parsley. Serve over pasta or in a rice ring flavoured with chopped red and yellow peppers and parsley. Serve 4 to 5 meatballs per person.

Microwave Method: Prepare meatballs following the conventional recipe. Arrange on a microwave roasting rack and cook until no longer pink in the centre on High (100 % power) for 6 to 8 minutes. Be sure to rotate meatballs every 2 minutes. In a 3 qt/ 3 L glass casserole dish, cook onions and mushrooms in butter or oil on High for 5 to 8 minutes. Stir in flour and cook on High for 1 to 2 minutes. Add milk, bring to a boil on High for 6 to 8 min, stirring every 2 minutes. Add meatballs and all seasonings except parsley. Cook on High for 2 to 4 minutes. Serve over rice or noodles and sprinkle with parsley.