Venison Meatballs in Red Wine Sauce

First start by heating your large saucepan at medium heat. Add the bacon pieces and cook until crispy. Remove the bacon from the pan and drain with paper towels, but make sure to leave the bacon grease in the pan!

Add the onions and garlic to the hot pan and saute for 2-3 minutes until they begin to become golden brown. Remove the onions from the pan with a slotted spoon so not to make the onions really greasy. Place them into a blender or food processor and pulse until the onion/garlic makes a smooth paste.

In a large mixing bowl, combine the ground venison, buttermilk, onion paste, bacon pieces, sage, rosemary, salt, pepper and breadcrumbs. Now get your hands dirty and mix it all together until combined! Using a cookie scoop or tablespoon, form the meatballs.

Add a tablespoon of olive oil to the large saucepan and heat it back up over medium heat. Add the meatballs to the pan in 2 separate batches. Sear the meatballs all over until brown. Remove the meatballs from the pan and drain them on a paper towel.

Once the meatballs are all done and removed from the saucepan, add red wine to the saucepan and deglaze. Do this for 1-2 minutes. Then remove the juices and place them in a bowl for later use in the sauce.

Next, add another tablespoon of olive oil to the pan and add 1/8 cup of flour. This is so you can make a nice light brown roux for the sauce. With your whisk, stir for 3-5 minutes until the roux turns a light brown. Add the 2 cups of chicken broth and whisk until the roux is completely dissolved. Allow the sauce to boil and then bring it down to a simmer for 15 minutes so that it can reduce.

After 15 minutes of simmering, add the dijon mustard and heavy cream. Pour back in the red wine juices from deglazing and add the meatballs back into the pan. Cover with a lid and simmer for 20 minutes.

While the sauce and meatballs are simmering, boil and prepare according to packaging the 1/4 pound of extra wide egg noodles. When the sauce and meatballs are done, add 2 Tablespoons of cold butter and stir until melted.

For the garnish, chop up about 2 to 3 green onions. What ever tickles your fancy!

To serve, place a good spoonful of egg noodles on the plate and top with 4-6 meatballs (depending on how hungry you are!) and sauce. Finish with a sprinkling of green onion for garnish!

Enjoy!