Italian Meatballs
This is a basic, yet delicious meatball recipe, ready in minutes. You can bake them with or without sauce, and with or without cheese. Great on pasta or a loaf of crusty Italian bread!
Inspiration for this dish came from the south your mouth website, but with some modifications, as any reader of the Kitchen Tapestry should come to expect. My Number One Fan gets all the credit for finding, modifying and preparing this really great version of the classic Italian Meatball.
There are several things you can do with this dish. The original recipe itself called for serving with pasta or with vegetables, such as fried zucchini roasted Brussels sprouts. What a horrible thing to to to these delicious gems. I'll give the original recipe author credit for creating a good, basic meatball recipe, but poor marks for serving suggestions.
If you're going to make a meatball, do what meatballs do best: sit on top of a plate of pasta; baked up in a casserole of ziti and cheese; or nestled inside a short loaf of crispy Italian bread, topped with Provolone.
Italian Meat Balls
Ingredients
- 2 lbs ground beef (80/20 ground chuck)
- 1/2 medium yellow onion, finely diced
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese (like, the Kraft)
- 1/2 cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs (like, Progresso)
- 1 tbsp Italian seasonings
- 1 tsp fine sea salt
- 10-12 grinds freshly cracked black pepper
- non-stick cooking spray (like, Pam)
- 2 cups marinara sauce (like, Rao's Homemade Tomato Basil Sauce)
- 2 cups mozzarella, shredded
- 1 cup Parmesan, Pecorino-Romano, or Parmigiana-Reggiano cheese, grated
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 400°F.
- Put all ingredients except the meat and bread crumbs into a large bowl and mix well.
- Crumble in the meat and then, using wet hands, blend all together. Don't overwork the meat.
- Add the bread crumbs and mix again to bind everything together.
- Lay the meat mixture onto a cookie sheet at an even height, more or less 1" thick.
- Using a knife or pastry cutter, score the meat into 24 even squares. This will give you a consistent-sized meatball, about the size of a golf ball.
- With wet hands , roll out the meatballs and set onto a baking sheet sprayed with the non-stick spray. Line the pan with foil if you're wanting an easier clean-up.
- Bake for 18 -20 minutes until browned.
- While the meatballs are cooking, zap the sauce in a microwave until hot
- When the meatballs have finished cooking, remove them from the oven and raise the temperature to 425°F.
- Pour the sauce over them over the meatballs, and then add the cheese.
- Return the meatballs to the oven for an additional 5-7 minutes until the cheese has melted but not browned.
