Baked Meatballs Any Way
Meatballs take a bit more time to make up front, but I love that we can serve them anyway that strikes our fancy. Meatball sandwiches? Sure! Classic Sunday spaghetti and meatballs? Yep. Meatballs alongside a pile of roasted veggies? Perfect. You get the idea. Take the recipe and run with it.
Ingredients:
1 egg
1/3 cup breadcrumbs (we make ours from leftover sourdough!)
2 tablespoons milk (you can use water or any non-dairy milk)
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh herbs like thyme, rosemary, parsley, basil
(you can sub for ½ tablespoon dried Italian seasoning if you don’t have fresh!)
1 teaspoon salt and a bit of freshly ground pepper
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 pounds ground beef, turkey, pork, or lamb! (our favorite combo is ½ beef or bison and ½ pork)
1 jar of your favorite tomato sauce
1/2 cup grated cheese of choice
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 400 F.
Whisk the egg well in a large bowl. Add the bread crumbs and milk and let the liquid soak into the bread crumbs. Add the salt, pepper, herbs, red pepper flakes, and parmesan and mix well.
Add the meat and use your hands to combine the mixture well. You want the breadcrumb mixture to really get incorporated with the meat.
Heat a wide oven safe skillet over medium heat. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Meanwhile, scoop and roll little meatballs about 1 inch in diameter, about the size of a golf ball. Add a bit of butter or olive oil to the pan and add the meatballs. Turn them once after about 2-3 minutes to get them a little browned.
Pour your tomato sauce over top and nestle the little meatballs into the sauce. Top with the cheese and pop your pan into the oven. Cook for 30 minutes and serve anyway you’d like!
