Meataballs

Who doesn’t love a good set of meatballs?! I know we love meatballs in the Watson household. The other day I made some seriously scrumptious ones and I thought I would share the recipe!

A good friend of mine told me that his family’s secret for to die for meatballs is to fry them. It sounded so good I had to try it! They are on to something!!!

1lb ground beef or 3/4 lb and 1/4 lb ground spicy sausage

3 slices of pepper jack cheese

1/4 cup cubed/chopped mozzarella

1/2 tbsp kosher sea salt

1/2 tbsp pepper

3/4 cup Italian bread crumbs (panko)

Few leaves of fresh mint, basil, oregano, thyme and rosemary minced.

Dash of red pepper flakes

3-4 garlic cloves grated so it makes a creamy paste

1 egg

1/2 cup olive oil

Mix everything together. I have found using my kitchen aid works the best. It mixes everything evenly and makes it compact which is easier for making the meatballs.

In a large pot that you would use to make spaghetti sauce heat  up a 1-2 cup of olive oil on medium to high heat.  Once the oil starts smoking turn the heat down to medium and using tongs place them in the oil.

Let the cook for 2-3 minutes or until you start to see them turning a darker color and becoming crispy.  Using the tongs rotate the meatballs on each side until they are full crispy and a delicious dark brown. The cheese will be oosing out!

Now you can do whatever you want with the meatballs. You can set them to the side and make spaghetti sauce, which I did his past Saturday! Then toss them into the sauce and let simmer for hours! The flavor of the oil from frying the meatballs really made the sauce tastier. I kept the oil and tossed in mushrooms and onions and then used the same recipe I posted in November for my sauce.

You could also eat the meatballs as is with some vegetables or make a meatball sandwich. You could make smaller meatballs and throw them on a pizza!!! Or cut them in half for the pizza! There are so many choices it’s hard to decide what to do.
Hope you enjoy this recipe! I would love to hear from you and how you ate your meatballs!!!

Until my next cooking adventure,
Lisa Annie