Brie-Stuffed Pork Meatballs with Lime and Chili
Pork meatballs with a piece of brie hidden in the middle. Cook them the night you drive in.
- calories
- 420
- weight
- 6 oz
- cal / oz
- 70
- protein
- 30 g
- serves
- 4, scales
- prep
- 15 min
- cook
- 10 min
- total time
- 25 min
- water
- none
- cost
- $$
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Dinner
- Snack
- Campfire coals
- Grill grate
- Canister stove
- Car camping
- Basecamp
- Canoe / raft
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Needs a cooler
- Basic
Ingredients
| Ground pork | 400 g | kept cold in the cooler, cook it the first night |
|---|---|---|
| Brie | 100 g | cut into cubes at home |
| Red chili | 1/2 | seeded and minced |
| Lime | 1 | zest from half, juice from the whole thing |
| Salt | 1/2 tsp | |
| Black pepper | 1/2 tsp | |
| Cooking oil | 1 tbsp | for the pan |
Method
- Mix the pork with the chili, lime zest, lime juice, salt, and pepper in the pan or a bag. Work it until it holds together.
- Pinch off a golf-ball portion, flatten it in your palm, press a cube of brie into the center, and close the meat around it. Seal the seam or the cheese leaves.
- Repeat until the meat is gone. You should get about sixteen.
- Set the pan over medium heat with the oil. Grate height matters more than flame size here; too hot and the outside blackens before the middle cooks.
- Turn them every couple of minutes for about 10 minutes total, until they are firm and no longer pink inside.
- Let them sit two minutes before eating. The cheese comes out molten.
This is a home tapas dish, and it stays one. Fresh ground pork and a soft cheese are not trail food, so this is a first-night car-camping dinner cooked out of the cooler while the ice is still solid. Everything else has been moved home: the chili minced, the lime zested, the cheese cubed, so camp work is mixing and rolling.
The cheese in the middle is the whole point and also the failure mode. Brie melts to liquid well before pork is cooked through, so the seam has to be closed properly or you end up frying cheese in the pan. Lime juice in the mix keeps the pork from going dense, and the zest carries more of the citrus than the juice does.
Packing
Zest and mince at home, then carry the chili, zest, salt, and pepper in one small jar. Cube the brie and bag it. Pork and cheese ride in the cooler on ice and get cooked the first night out.
Variations
- A jar of chutney or a cranberry vinaigrette on the side turns them into a real plate.
- Ground turkey works and cooks faster, but it needs the extra oil.
- No cooler: swap in a shelf-stable meat stick and skip the stuffing. It is a different dish, but it travels.
https://www.matprat.no/oppskrifter/gjester/brieboller-med-lime-og-chili