The first time I heard them mention hedgehog, I thought they meant the animal!!! But apparently, it's due to the fact that the meatballs have rice in them and they tend to stick out the meatballs when cooked, looking like spikes, hence the name "hedgehog."
We had ours with carrots and mashed potatoes on the side.
For a good recipe, you can try this Hedgehog meatballs recipe from Kidspot.
Ingredients:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, diced or grated
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 tablespoons tomato paste
1 cup hot water
400g can whole tomatoes, diced
500g beef mince
½ cup long grain rice
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon cumin, ground
¼ cup basil leaves (optional)
Method:
Spray slow cooker with oil spray and turn on to MEDIUM.
In a frying pan, sauté onion and garlic in olive oil on medium heat until onion is transparent.
Add tomato paste and stir to combine (it will start to stick to the bottom but that’s OK).
After 2-3 minutes add water to deglaze frying pan. Tip into slow cooker and add diced tomatoes and juice with ½ teaspoon of salt.
In a separate bowl add mince beef, rice, cumin and remaining salt. Use clean hands (or gloves) to combine ingredients.
Split beef mixture in half and then half again. With each of the four portions, split into quarters again, leaving you with 16 portions.
Roll each portion into a ball and place in slow cooker.
Pop the lid on and cook for 5 hours on MEDIUM.
After five hours, remove lid, give a bit of a stir and throw in freshly torn basil leaves.
Put the lid back on and cook for a further 30 minutes.
Serve.
