Cheese-Stuffed Meatballs

Glutton's Note:

I am eating this as I write - it's a recipe I got from the Williams-Sonoma catalog. They came out just delicious and the extra meatballs will be my lunch and dinner this week. One caveat - seal the cheese in the meatballs securely, or it will melt out when simmering in the sauce. It was a bit tedious to make, but not difficult. There are quite a few steps. The sauce was a bit of a pain for me to make (didn't have a tomato press), so I used premade. But I think this is the way I'll make my meatballs from now on!

• Total Time: 1 hrs
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 10

• 1 1/2 lbs ground beef
• 1 1/2 lbs ground pork
• 1/3 cup milk
• 1 cup breadcrumbs
• 1/3 cup fresh parsley, minced (save some for garnish)
• 3 large eggs, lightly beaten
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 3/4 teaspoons kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1/3 lb mozzarella cheese or 1/3 lb provolone cheese, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• olive oil (for frying)
• 48 ounces tomato sauce (use premade or make your own)
• grated parmesan cheese, for serving

Directions:

1. In a large bowl, combine the milk and bread crumbs.
2. Whip eggs in separate bowl. Then add to larger bowl along with the meats, parsley, garlic and pepper.
3. Mix ingredients briefly with hands.
4. Form into 2 inch balls.
5. Seal cheese cube into center of each meatball.
6. In a large skillet set on medium-high, heat oil to almost-smoking, browing meatballs for about a minute or so.
7. Transfer meatballs to tray (lined with paper towels).
8. Discard oil and place tomato sauce in skillet, heating to medium-high until it starts to simmer.
9. Add meatballs, cover and reduce heat to medium-low.
10. Cover, simmer for 30 minutes.
11. Uncover and cook for 10 minutes more.
12. Serve over pasta with grated cheese, or place in Italian bread buns to make grinders.

Reviews

[Janique Matinez]

This recipe was easy to follow, and perfect for the novice cook ;) Thanks!

[FLKeysJen]

These were fun to make! I used mozzarella and they're delicious; I ended up with 40 big balls and am glad to have the leftovers in my freezer for future use.