Meatballs Recipe

Last night I had a holiday dinner with my grade school friends. Love a night of good friends, food, laughs and good times J We had Graziano’s house salad, foccacia, stinky Italian cheese on little toasts, mostacolli, meatballs, Red Velvet cake, and Blackberry Cheesecake.  We were stuffed.  I made the meatballs, read on for the recipe.

I’ve been meaning to post this recipe for awhile, but I can never get a good picture of the finished product.  It’s not as easy as you think to make a pile of meat smothered in sauce look appetizing. So, no picture. But here’s the easy peasy recipe that I must’ve googled or something – I forget. It calls for basic ingredients that I usually have on hand, there isn't much to do, and it's good for freezing extras.

MEATBALLS

Serves 6 (about 18 to 24 large meatballs)

Ingredients:

         1 pound lean or extra-lean ground beef

         1/2 pound bulk Italian sausage (or remove from casings)

         1/3 cup fine dry bread crumbs

         3 medium cloves garlic

         1 scant teaspoon salt

         1 teaspoon dried leaf basil

         1 medium onion, finely chopped

         1 large egg

         1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese

         2 tablespoons water, or as needed

         1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preparation:

Line a large shallow baking pan with foil; oil lightly. Combine all ingredients, using just enough water to moisten. Shape into meatballs, about 1 1/2 to 2 inches in diameter.

Broil the meatballs about 8 inches from the heat source for about 10 minutes. Turn and broil for 10 minutes longer.

Put the meatballs in a large saucepan and cover with your favorite pasta sauce, homemade or purchased. Cover and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.

Mama Stuart’s Notes:

1. I don’t use ground beef at all and just do straight Italian sausage.
2. Sometimes they come out salty, so go easy on that.
3. Sometimes they get too brown depending on your broiler setting (mine has high and low) and where your oven rack is positioned. So keep an eye on them.
4. If it’s just me and Doug, I will halve the recipe. Then we get dinner for one night, and two night’s worth to freeze.  You probably won’t need water to moisten since you can’t halve an egg.
5. Since I only use ¾ lbs of Italian sausage, I usually make my meat sauce the same night.  That way I can eat the meat sauce for dinner while the meatballs simmer.  When I’m done with dinner, the meatballs are ready to be packed up for another night.
6. If eating after freezing, I take it out the night before and then warm it up in a pot when I want to eat it.

Let me know how you like it!