My little girl just informed me the other day that her favorite meal is spaghetti and meatballs. We don’t have that very often so it surprised me a bit. The other night I decided to do something special for her and make her “favorite” meal with homemade meatballs.
Spicy Italian Meatballs
Preheat oven to 425°F
Prep Time: 15 minutes Cook Time: 20-25 Minutes
Ingredients:
1 lb 80% lean ground beef chuck
1 lb spicy sausage (i.e. Bob Evans Hot sausage roll or similar)
2 large eggs
2 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 a small onion, diced
1/4 cup fresh Italian flat leaf parsley, chopped fine (a tbsp of dry will work if you don’t have fresh)
1 cup fresh bread crumbs (about 2 slices of bread)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp dry or semi-dry red wine – Merlot or Malbec works quite nice
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper
In a large bowl put in meat and all your ingredients on top of it – yes, just dump it in. Use your hands* to gently incorporate everything until just mixed. Over mixing will lead to tough meatballs. Roll the mix into scant 1/4 cup size balls and place them on a jelly roll pan at least a 1/2 inch apart. Bake in the oven at 425° F for at 20 – 25 minutes until cooked through. I like the caramelized brown to be on as much of my meatballs as possible so halfway through the cooking process I use a spatula to dislodge them from the pan and turn them over.
Through the cooking you’ll be able to smell the spices from the sausage and the nuttiness of the Parmesan wafting through the house. It is a mouthwatering experience. Serve with your favorite spaghetti sauce and pasta of your choice and side salad for a delicious and complete meal.
*If you are like me and do not enjoy the feeling of ground meat on your hands and under your fingernails please use a pair of disposable plastic gloves so you can do your mixing icky feeling free :).
Firstly, I’m a mom and wife. Professionally, IT consulting is my job and blogging is the outlet for my passions. I write about things that affect the everyday life of a stay-at-home parent or any parent for that matter such as parenting, relationships, discipline, the media, product reviews, giveaways, social media, food, cooking, gardening and anything else that might come my way.
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