The Supreme Meatball

Honest…the supreme meatball! Even my Italian friends secretly beg me for the recipe as they don’t want to offend their Nona’s. The addition of the lemon zest creates this phenomenally rich flavour and you will find that you can’t eat as many with your pasta as you usually would. Since these little wonders are bursting with flavour I add them to a simple “bath” (tomato sauce) so the ingredients don’t play Gladiator with each other. I will be posting the “bath” recipe shortly. The recipe is from Canada Cooks Pasta but I’ve altered it to lower the carb and fat content.

• Ready In: 1 hr 15 mins
• Serves: 4-6

Ingredients

• 1 1⁄2 lbs  combination  lean ground veal or 1 1⁄2 lbs  ground lean pork
• 1⁄3 cup  oat bran
• 1  large lemon, rind of, grated
• 2  eggs, lightly beaten
• 2⁄3 cup  freshly grated romano cheese
• 1⁄3 cup  minced fresh parsley
• 1⁄2 cup  minced onion
• 2  garlic cloves, minced
• 1  teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
• 1⁄4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1  teaspoon oregano
• 1  teaspoon basil
• 2  tablespoons olive oil
•  tomato sauce (recipe to follow)
• 1  lb spaghetti or 1  lb linguine or 1  lb fettuccine

Directions

1. In a large bowl, lightly mix together the ground meat, oat bran, lemon rind, eggs, cheese, parsley, onion, garlic, salt, pepper, allspice, oregano and basil.
2. Refrigerate several hours or overnight.
3. Heat oven to 375.
4. Form mixture into 1 ¼” meatballs.
5. Place meatballs on baking sheet and cook for 15 minutes.
6. Add to tomato sauce and simmer, partially covered, 45 minutes.
7. Cook pasta al dente, drain and toss with sauce. Pile pasta on a platter and top with extra sauce and meatballs.