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Hi there friends! Welcome, or perhaps welcome back! This is unusual for me, two posts in one week. To my surprise, I received quite a few messages asking that I share both my Roasted Honey + Balsamic Brussels Sprouts recipe and these Meatballs. By the way, I truly appreciate the feedback from you all. I genuinely enjoy sharing whatever positive information I have at my disposal, whether it be recipes or fitness related. So please, do keep them coming!
If you’re like me, you’ve probably stocked up on lots of high carbohydrate foods. For example, pasta, rice, bread and cookies. Before all of this I hardly would keep any of that stuff in my home. The absence of these items, have always omitted the temptation. I do not however want any of these items to go to waste. This week, I went for it and made Spaghetti & Meatballs. It’s okay, we all could use some comfort food every now and then during these crazy times! Everything in Balance!
Goldilocks and the Three Bears comes to mind when I think of creating the perfect meatballs. You don’t want them too hard or too soft. Just like my Brussels Sprouts, it took me a few times to get this recipe just right.
Not sure if it’s like this in your neck of the woods, but whenever we order take out from an Italian restaurant or Pizzeria they tend to give us nearly an entire loaf of Italian Bread. Usually we’re eating enough food from our take out order, we hardly eat it. Rather than letting it go to waste, I’ll throw it in a freezer safe container or ziplock bag, and pop it right in the freezer for a rainy day. If you don’t already know, the secret to getting deliciously soft meatballs is B R E A D or breadcrumbs. Meatballs is sort of a misnomer, as a good portion of the ball includes bread.
Meat on the other hand can vary. When you think of “Meat”, you may think of red meat a.k.a beef. I know that’s the first thing that comes to my mind. However, authentic Italian Meatballs actually contain 3 different types of ground meat; Beef, Veal and Pork. The Meatballs I prepared this week (photographed) only contain beef. I don’t usually have the others lying around the house, especially in times like these. Personally, I’m not a huge fan of veal. Not saying I’ve never ate meatballs with it. I have and they were delicious, but the idea of a baby calf just makes me feel badly. Quite honestly, I tend to make a modern version of Meatballs with none of these three “Meats” mentioned above. Often I’ll opt for a leaner type of meat, for example ground turkey or chicken. However, I do like to eat beef every so often as it’s a great source of Iron. Of course, if this is not your thing, this recipe can be supplemented with any meat of your choice (even vegan meat, although I not tried that before).
Being that these Meatballs contain beef, I recommend pairing it with some sort of vegetable. I made sauteed broccoli with garlic and olive oil as our side. It’s always good to have a fiber source to aid in digestion with every meal. You can also pair this with a salad. If you are opting out of spaghetti, try supplementing regular spaghetti for some zoodles (zuchini noodles) or spaghetti squash. Both are a great source of fiber for your diet.
Got M I L K? Before I dive into the recipe itself, I wanted to mention one last mystery ingredient. That’s right, it’s M I L K. This key ingredient helps to soften the bread and gives the meatballs themselves the perfect texture. I’ll get into more detail below with the Ingredients and Directions.
Ingredients:
- 2 lbs of Ground Beef (turkey, chicken, combo of Beef, Veal & Pork or any combo)
- 1 Onion chopped
- 4 Garlic Cloves chopped
- 1/4 cup of fresh parsley chopped
- 1 teaspoon Himalayan Salt
- Pinch of crushed red pepper
- 4-5 cups of blended bread (breadcrumbs)
- 1/2-1 cup of Whole Milk
- 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup Pecorino Romano cheese
- 1 tablespoon Butter
- Extra virgin olive oil
- 2 large eggs
Prep Time: 40 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes (approx.)
Note: This is a large serving size (6-8). I was able to freeze a half for a future meal. If you want, cut ingredients in 1/2).
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Coat large pan with Butter and olive oil
- Sautee Onion & salt 5-7 minutes (should look a bit translucent)
- Add Garlic & crushed red pepper 1-2 mins. Turn off heat and set aside in bowl (pop them in the fridge to cool down)
- Add frozen bread to blender until breadcrumbs form
- In a small bowl add Milk to Breadcrumbs and squish with hands (let sit while sauteing Onion & Garlic)
- Boil water for Spaghetti (pasta, zoodles, spaghetti squash whatever you are using)
- Crack 2 Eggs in separate bowl and mix
- In a large bowl combine Meat (of your choice), Eggs, Cheese, Fresh Parsley, Onion-Garlic and Breadcrumb mixture. Should be a wet sticky consistency.
- In olive oil, brown both sides in large pan used for Onion & garlic (you can omit this step if you want them only baked).
- Place on cookie sheet and Bake 15 minutes each side or until the meatballs are cooked all the way through (flip half way through). If using right away, add them to your big pot of sauce.
Hope you enjoyed this post! I’d love to hear your feedback. What would you like to see next? Click subscribe, so you don’t miss a post. Feel free to comment below. Thanks for stopping by =)
Stay Safe my friends!!
With Lots of Love, today + always xo Jeni Deana
