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Spaghetti & Meatballs

Our kids dig spaghetti, so I usually just make a meat sauce and serve with spaghetti noodles, but I was inspired to make some meatballs to change things up a little bit from a piece in the Sunday paper Food section.  I figured I could make meatball subs or little meatball sliders with some, too.

I just made about 1/3 of this recipe, because it made a lot, and well, I was trying it for the first time.  I used a 1:1 ratio of Italian sausage, and based on the feedback of my son, I would likely made it a 2:1 beef to sausage ratio next time.  I also used a jarred sauce, because I thought I had tomatoes to make some sauce, and ended up not having any (time to straighten up the cupboards!).

I baked the meatballs in the oven, then tossed them in a pot of sauce to kind of finish cooking and add a little flavor.  I froze half of the batch, so we can either do another batch of sauce and meatballs over noodles, or do some sliders or subs.  I think this could be a decent freezer meal for a swap, too....

Here's the recipe I used, based on the one in the article (which by the way, says his recipe makes 24-30 meatballs - um, they must have been giant - I filled a whole jelly roll pan with 1/3 of the recipe)!

 Meatballs

1 lb. ground beef
1 lb. Italian sausage (bulk or removed from casings)
1 egg
1 c. Panko breadcrumbs
2  tbsp. garlic, minced
1/2 tsp. freshly ground black pepper
1/2 tsp. kosher salt
1 tbsp. Italian seasoning (I have a rosemary plant, so I minced up some fresh and added it, too)
1-2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Place all ingredients in a large bowl. Mix well with your hands. (I actually added it all to a gallon-sized bag, and kneaded the mixture to avoid gross raw meat hands.  Fashion into small meatballs. (I love the Playtex disposable gloves they sell at the grocery store - they help me dig in to raw meat projects.)  Place in a single layer on a rimmed baking sheets. Bake in preheated oven 45 to 50 minutes or until cooked through. Serve with hot cooked spaghetti and spaghetti sauce (or freeze, or make meatball subs).


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