Dine and Dish

Why is it that all that I can think about when writing this post is the You Tube video of Faith Hill recently telling off a concert groupie for groping her husband? I know, I have the mind of a 5th grader, don't I?

We went to an Italian restaurant a couple of years ago and  I ordered spaghetti and meatballs. To me, meatballs means lots and lots of meatballs and I was looking forward to my heaping plate of pasta with a pile of meatballs. When our food arrived, I looked at my plate and my expectations for the pasta were fulfilled... it was a heaping pile of pasta. Much to my dismay, my expectations for the pile of meatballs fell very short. On my plate was one, single, solitary meatball. It was a large meatball, but there was only one.

This was all wrong. Meatballs belong in groups and piles. Meatballs are not loners. They need other meatballs to be by their side to be complete.

That was the final time I ever order spaghetti and meatballs at a restaurant. From that day on, I stuck to things like Chicken Parmesan at Italian restaurants and skipped the meatball(s) all together. I could not be sure that the restaurants I went to had my same philosophy on meatballs and I was not willing to be disappointed again.

My favorite recipe for meatballs is my mom's and I will share that with you some day soon. My old stand by meatball recipe for things like BBQ meatballs and rice, Meatball hoagies, or Meatball Calzones is the one I am getting ready to share with you. This recipe is extremely basic and simple. The meatballs freeze great so you can be an Alpha Mom and have some on hand. This meatball recipe is also very versatile. Beyond the basic meatball this recipe makes, you can add additional seasonings to the recipe to enhance the flavor however you would like. The best thing about this recipe is your meatballs won't be lonely. One batch makes about 15 large meatballs or 30 small meatballs. There are plenty of meatball friends to go around.

Oven Baked Meatballs

1 Pound Ground Beef or Ground Turkey*

1 Large Egg

1/4 cup onion, finely chopped

1/3 cup Italian Herbed Breadcrumbs 

1 Tbs Worcestershire sauce

Salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

(This is the basic list of ingredients. I will sometimes add Italian Seasoning, Garlic, a 1/2 envelope of Lipton Onion Soup Mix, etc. The options are endless!) 

*If using ground turkey or very lean ground beef, add 1/4 cup of milk to your meat mixture 

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Mix all ingredients together by hand.

Shape mixture into several 1 1/2 inch balls.

Place the meatballs into a lightly greased 9x13 inch glass baking dish and bake for 20-25  minutes or until light brown.

Drain off any excess grease.

Serve however you wish or let cool and freeze for later.