So, meatballs are one of those items that I really love to have in the deep freeze. When there is a special on ground beef at the Farmer's Market we always stock up. I make some into meatballs and freeze them right away. They are ideal for a quick, inexpensive meal or for vamping up leftovers. I like to consider it my take on my mom's infamous "911 Meatballs"...a stashed bag of frozen meatballs that could be pulled at a moments notice and feed a hungry Italian mob. My young cousin coined the name and it stuck.
As with any recipe I urge you to change it, even if slightly, to accommodate your own unique tastes, that's what cooking is all about.
Ingredients
1 lb ground beef (can use pork or other ground meat sub if preferred)
up to 3/4 cup bread crumbs (seasoned or not)
1 egg
1 clove garlic finely chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped onion (almost minced really)
seasoning of choice....you can make them spicy or traditional or any flavor at all. I usually stick to salt, pepper, oregano, maybe some rosemary or sage. We keep it basic knowing they are for future meals and we can jazz up sauces easier than trying to accommodate uniquely flavored meatballs later down the line.
Combine beef, 1/4 cup bread crumbs, garlic, onions and egg. Use your hands, I guarantee they are the best tool you have! Slowly add more bread crumbs, mixing as you go. Stop when you get to a "doughy" consistency. You want the ingredients to be activated and bind together. Grab a small amount (about 2 tablespoons) and roll by hand into balls. Tip: If the mixture sticks to your hands just wet your palms with water.
Place on a baking sheet and lightly drizzle with oil. Bake in a 350 deg F preheated oven for 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven, let cool. Store and freeze.
When you are ready to use them pull the container from the freezer and let thaw.
Place desired number of meatballs into a pot then add your sauce, this way you don't splatter yourself adding meatballs to sauce. Cook on medium until meatballs are warm throughout, roughly 15-20 minutes. I like to set it on low and let it come up to temp slowly so I can multitask and forget about it for a little while.
Now I like to use this to jazz up leftover spaghetti that had no sauce (a common occurrence in our house...I always make extra pasta). So at this point I just add the leftover spaghetti to the pot and let it cook a little longer.
If you didn't have leftover pasta it would be very easy to boil spaghetti in the pot first and then reserve the spaghetti to the side in the colander thus resuming use of the one pot. And for you sticklers out there, no, I'm not counting the colander as a "pot", so there.
It's not always pretty in the pot but it is always so delicious!
Minimal clean up and happy kiddos make me love this meal to the utmost. Of course cost savings and supreme ease don't hurt either.
Mangia, Mangia!
Simple City Sam
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