Meatballs

January 21, 2012

These meatballs are meant for tomato sauce. I have tried about 7 different recipes, trying to find the perfect meatball that was easy and had simple ingredients. Some had bacon, ground pork, ground veal, or ground turkey, all very good! But the ingredient that was shared in alot of the recipes, that I thought really made a difference, was the addition of parmesan cheese.

This recipe is very simple and can easily be doubled, so that you can freeze some for another time.

Meatballs (adapted from Food.com, Authentic Italian Meatballs)

1 egg

1/4 cup milk

1 cup fresh breadcrumbs

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon oregano

2 large or 3 small garlic cloves, minced

1 cup packed, grated parmesan cheese

1 lb. of 85% ground beef

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Mix first 7 ingredients thoroughly, from egg to parmesan cheese in a large bowl, using a large serving fork.

(I do not mix meatballs or meatloaf with my hands like many recipes tell you. I feel that it really mushes the beef way too much and makes for a very dense ball or loaf when cooked. Mixing with a large serving fork ensures that the ball or loaf will be soft in texture, which is what I prefer.)

Then add the beef and mix again with the large serving fork until thoroughly combined.

(I also find that if you mix all the ingredients together, without separating out the beef, you are never quite sure you have incorporated everything and then you may mix too much!)

Take 1-1/2 ounces of meat mixture and form into a ball.

Place onto a greased cookie sheet, using canola cooking spray.

Bake for about 15-20 minutes, until golden brown.

Add meatballs to a saucepan containing about 3-4 cups of Tomato Sauce and simmer for another 20 minutes.

Serve over spaghetti (or penne or ziti or pasta of your choice) with additional sauce if desired.

**White bread, any kind, rolls, sliced bread, whatever you have on hand. Chopped pretty fine (with a Cuisinart or blender), and dried in the oven at 250 degrees, for about 1 hour. I put mine in the freezer for future use.

Happy Cooking from my kitchen to yours!!

Meatballs ready to go in the oven: