Garlic Italian Meatballs...for a Crowd!

A Messy Cook's Note:

These meatballs are simple, versatile, and packed with savory, garlicky flavor! YUM!! Use them for spaghetti, meatball sandwiches, Italian wedding soup, baked ziti...I think this recipe will serve 35 people. :-) It would also freeze well for those of you who do OAMC. The lady who gave me this recipe used to be a caterer, and she told me that one of her clients said these were better than his Italian wife's own meatballs! I guess that's saying something. Anyway, I really like these, and if you love garlic, so will you! Cooking time is for one batch of meatballs, but of course it will take longer to make all of them. Prep time doesn't include peeling and mincing the three heads of garlic, which is admittedly a somewhat lengthy process. Oh well, it's certainly worth it!!

• Total Time: 30 mins
• Prep Time: 20 mins
• Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients:

Serves: 35

Yield: 200.0 meatballs

• 3 lbs lean ground beef
• 3 lbs ground turkey
• 2 cups finely grated parmesan cheese or 2 cups romano cheese
• 3 heads garlic, peeled and minced
• 1 1/2 cups fresh breadcrumbs
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 6 eggs
• 1/2-3/4 cup chopped flat-leaf Italian parsley
• 1 1/2 tablespoons salt
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients and mix thoroughly.
2. Shape into meatballs by tablespoons, and bake on sprayed cookie sheet for 10 minutes at 350 degrees.
3. If a little "puddle" forms on the cookie sheet, don't worry -- it's just oil from the cheese and meat, and aren't you glad that it came out of the meatballs instead of staying in?! You can get rid of this excess fat by removing cooked meatballs to a dish lined with paper towels.
4. ENJOY!

Reviews

[Erindipity]

Very nice basic meatball recipe. I needed a recipe that made a lot of meatballs for the freezer, was flavor neutral as I wanted to be able to use them in several different types of sauces and were relatively light. Baking these does bring the fat out, but since I used lean ground beef and ground turkey breast there was actually very little fat at all on the pans. I didn't make any changes to the recipe and they turned out with a very nice mild flavor. Thanks you.

[j.a.c.k.]

What a good idea baking the meatballs instead of frying them.