Meatballs. Who doesn’t love a good meatball? My meatball recipe uses a half and half mixture of ground beef and ground pork, though you could also use one of the meatball or meatloaf mixes from the grocery store (just make sure you use two pounds of it).
Ingredients
1 cup Panko bread crumbs
½ cup milk
1 lb ground beef
1 lb ground pork
1 small onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 small bunch (approx 1/3 cup) parsley, chopped
2-4 tbsp olive oil
2-3 tsp salt
1 tsp ground black pepper
2 eggs, beaten
1 cup grated Parmesan
Before making the meatballs, I highly suggest leaving the meat out on the counter for 20 minutes or so to come closer room temperature. Trying to mix cold meat with your hands is the worst!
Add the panko breadcrumbs to a small bowl and pour the milk over them. Mix them until the breadcrumbs become fully coated in milk. Allow the breadcrumbs to soak for about 15 minutes.
Add the onion, garlic, and parsley to a food processor with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Run the processor until they get chopped down very finely. You are looking for them to become like pulp.
Add the meat into a large bowl. Add the breadcrumbs mixture, the vegetable pulp, salt, pepper, eggs, and grated parmesan. Mix the contents together by hand very well. You want to make sure all of the ingredients are fully blended and incorporated.
Once it’s all mixed, roll the meatballs. Take heaping spoonfuls of the meat mixture and roll them between your palms to create balls that are about 1 to 1½ inches in diameter. Once rolled, let them rest on a plate covered in plastic wrap for at least an hour in the fridge, if possible.
Now time for cooking! You can either pan fry them or bake them. I do both, depending on my mood. To fry, add 1 to 2 tablespoons of olive oil to a pan over medium heat and cook the meatballs in batches, frying them for about 5 minutes until the bottom is nicely browned. Then, roll them to the other side and fry for an additional 5 minutes. To bake, preheat an oven to 400 degrees and place the meatballs in rows on a sheet pan greased with olive oil. I like to brush a a little olive oil on the tops of the meatballs as well. Bake them for 20-25 minutes until nice and brown.
Serve them with pasta, with crusty bread, or as a meatball sub. The sky is the limit! 😁