Weeks before Thanksgiving I began cooking and freezing numerous meals to have on hand when my sister and brother arrived.
They were coming the week before Thanksgiving. Having some home cooked meals available even after busy days spent sight seeing, shopping,movie-going, walking, and just enjoying Slo was great.
And of course we did our share of dining out as well.
One evening we enjoyed these Italian Baked Meatballs with spaghetti and my favorite marinara sauce. (Leftover meatballs and sauce make great meatball subs with some provolone melted on top…just sayin’)
I had been looking for a recipe for baked meatballs and decided to try this one. The meatballs are very flavorful and yet light and tender.
There is something to be said for eliminating the mess of frying and the time standing at the stove… and they’re a bit healthier as well.
These meatballs baked for about 20 minutes at a high temperature on rimmed baking sheets lined with parchment paper. They browned beautifully, and much of the fat was left behind.
My marinara sauce was previously frozen so I defrosted enough to heat the meatballs slowly for 1 to 2 hours. When room temperature I then froze the meatballs in the sauce.
The day before I was going to serve them I defrosted them and the extra sauce from the freezer.
All I had to do for dinner was warm the meatballs and sauce, make some spaghetti and throw a salad together. A loaf of good bread to go along with it and dinner was served. Here’s the recipe…
Italian Baked Meatballs
(adapted from Chef John’s Italian Meatballs from allrecipes online)
Ingredients
½ cup seasoned bread crumbs
¾ cup milk
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 and ½ onion, diced
2 and ½ pounds ground beef (I prefer 80/20 )
1 pound mild Italian pork sausages, casings removed , and crumbled
2 extra large eggs, lightly beaten
¼ bunch fresh parsley, chopped (about ½ cup or more if you like)
6 cloves garlic, crushed
1 tablespoon Kosher salt
1 and ½ teaspoons fresh ground pepper
1 teaspoon oregano
½ teaspoon red pepper flakes (optional)
1-2 tablespoons grated Pecorino Romano (or Parmesan)
Directions
1. Cover a baking sheet with parchment paper for easy clean-up/removal from pan.
2. Soak bread crumbs in milk in a small bowl for 20 minutes.
3. Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir onions in hot oil until translucent, about 20 minutes.
4. Mix the beef and crumbled sausage together in a large bowl.
5.Stir onions, bread crumb mixture, eggs, parsley, garlic, salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes (if using), oregano, and Pecorino cheese into meat mixture with a rubber spatula till combined. Cover and refrigerate for about 1 hour.
6. Preheat an oven to 425 degrees.
7. Use an ice cream scoop to form the mixture into balls about 1 and ½ inches. If you prefer, wet hands and gently form into 1 and ½ inch balls. Arrange onto prepared baking sheet.
8. Bake in the preheated oven till browned and cooked through, about 20 minutes or more. They should be tender.
Cook’s notes from Chef John:
- Some recipes use equal portions of beef, veal, and pork, which is also nice, yet more expensive. These days you can find all sorts of lean-to-fat ratios for ground beef. Most stores sell 90% lean, 10% fat, but I prefer the 80% lean, 20% fat ratio for this recipe.
- Once cooked, you can add the meatballs to your favorite prepared tomato sauce for 1 to 2 hours.