Perfectly Seasoned Italian Meatballs

Submitted by Callu

"Meatballs for those who are not confident “seasoners”. I developed this one day when I wanted to make homemade meatballs and wanted to use what I had in my kitchen instead of buying more ingredients at the store. It uses a packets of readily available seasoning mix and bread slices instead of bread crumbs. And it makes a really large batch so there are plenty for a crowd or enough to make ahead and freeze for later. You can also use any extra mixture for meat loaf! Very versatile and a universal crowd pleaser."

 

• Ready In: 1hr 30mins
• Ingredients: 9
• Yields: 3-4 meatballs
• Serves: 15-20

ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 cups milk
• 6 large eggs
• 6 slices stale bread
• 6 lbs ground meat (I use 4 pounds beef & 2 lbs pork)
• 1 (1 1/2 ounce) package mccormick spaghetti sauce seasoning
• 1 (1 1/2 ounce) package mccormick meat loaf seasoning
• 3 -6 fresh garlic cloves, minced (optional)
• 1⁄4 cup flat leaf parsley, minced (optional)
• 1 1⁄2 cups grated parmesan cheese

directions

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In larger sized mixing bowl mix together milk and eggs.
3. Break bread in pieces and soak in milk-egg mixture until bread falls apart and it becomes a fairly well mixed consistency.
4. Add in seasoning packets and all optional seasoning. Stir until well incorporated.
5. Take off all rings and jewelry and add ground meat to mixture. Use your hands to mix until all ingredients are well blended.
6. Mix in parmesan cheese.
7. Allow mixture to rest for about 15 minutes. This gives it a chance to firm up so it will be easier to work with.
8. Form into balls that are between the size of a walnut and an apricot, they will be soft so be gentle.
9. Place on cookie sheets and try to space out enough that they don’t touch once on the pan. I do 20 to 30 per pan depending on how much of a hurry I am inches.
10. Bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes or until cooked through. If I feel vigilant I broil them for about 5 minutes right at the end. If you skip that step they are still tasty.
11. Pull out of oven and cool on the pan or drain on paper towels if you so desire.
12. Eat them as appetizers or add to your favorite pasta dish.
13. NOTE: If this is a larger batch than you plan to eat you can freeze extras for later use. One other option is to roll out as many as you want and use the rest of the mixture to make meat loaf. Put meat mixture in a loaf pan and bake it at 350 for an hour. Drain excess fat off when you pull pan out of the oven and then allow to cool completely in the pans before slicing.