Meatballs...Great tasting comfort food!
Fist Size Meatballs...YUM!
After working for a Pizzaria Subshop for 4 years I gained some really nice skills thanks to the owners. I became their kitchen manager so to speak and made a lot of the foods we served from scratch like the speghetti sauce and meals to mixing and baking the meatballs. I still make mine fist size the way we did it at the shop.
People look at me when I make these meatballs and say, "What The Heck (with eyes wide)?" They can't believe the size of my meatballs when I pull a cake size pan out of the oven and pull the tin foil back. I laugh when they say that and at the look on thier face. They also say, "YUM" once they put their fork to them and taste a piece. I like to make my meatballs this big because the inside is never over cooked and you can slice off however much you want to put on your plate or cut into pieces and stuff a few of those into a meatball parm sub roll, top them with a couple slices of provalone or some shredded mozzarella, pop that in a 425 degree oven for about 7 to 10 minutes to melt the cheese on top and "YUM" once again!
You will not leave my house hungry!
Below I'm going to tell you how I make my meatballs and if you choose to try them then I wish you luck and good eating!
MEATBALLS ARE COMFORT FOOD!
INVENT THEM YOUR WAY! YOU CAN'T GO WRONG ...
IF YOU LIKE YOUR INGREDIENT YOU WILL LIKE
YOUR MEATBALLS!
Fist Size Meatballs For Your Speghetti Dinner or Meatball Parms Or As A Side Dish!
Cook Time
Prep Time: 1hr baking time
Total Time: 1 1/2 hrs.
Serves: Makes 12 very large meatballs
Ingredients
- ground beef
- chopped onion
- chopped garlic
- italian bread crumbs
- eggs
- chopped celery
- garlic & herb seasoning
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- The first thing I do aside from washing my hands and getting a large mixing bowl ready is to put 2 1/2 to 3 lbs of ground beef in the mixing bowl. You can use ground chuck, a mix of beef and pork or even some ground turkey, whatever you prefer.
- Then I add 2 - 3 cups of Italian seasoned bread crumbs, 4 whole eggs, about 3/4 cup each of fine chopped onion and bell pepper (to your liking, a 1/2 cup is a good mix for this amount of meat). I also add 1/2 cup of fine chopped celery. I prefer to sautee' these vegetables in a little butter or olive oil until they are some what softened but it's not necessary. I add about 1 1/2 cups of parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup garlic and herb seasoning, 2 tablespoons of chopped garlic, salt and pepper to you liking. These additions can be modified to your individual taste but what I have suggested here in my humble opinion makes a meatball.
- Next step is to mix it all together, blending everything together at once.
- Take a large handful and roll this mixture in your cupped palms until a compact ball the size of a tennis ball has been made. The mix should be some what firm but not stiff and not mushy either, it should hold together nicely into a smooth rolled meatball.
- It may take a little practice but you will get it. If your meat is too mushy feeling add some more bread crumbs and cheese otherwise it will stick to your hands and not roll into a ball well. If you pack the meatballs to firmly they will be hard once they are cooked, too soft and they will fall apart.
- The next step is to, pour enough oil in your baking pan to just coat bottom of pan, place your meatballs 3 across the width and 4 down the length, of a 9X13 cake pan and continue placing meatballs in until your pan is full. I use the cake size pan because 12 fist size meatballs fit in it nicely. Leave a little space between your meatballs.
- Cover your meatballs in the pan with tin foil and bake at 375 degrees for approx. 45 min. to 1 hr. Check them towards then end to make sure the bottoms of your meatballs are not getting too brown. Once the meatballs are finished baking remove from oven and uncover one corner to let the steam out. (CAREFUL...the steam is HOT!)
- You can serve immediately with your favorite marinara sauce, speghetti sauce or other sauce. Or you can drop them into whatever sauce you decide to have and let simmer along with that til you are ready to serve.
- They work very well in a crock pot with a marinara sauce simmering all day. You can use them to top your speghetti for a party, dinner or any event or they make great Meatball Parms. Just fill a crunchy sub roll that has been slit down the center boat style, spread apart and fill with cut chunks of meatball to fit, top with your favorite Mozzerella, Provalone or any other cheese you prefer and bake in a 425 degree oven until cheese has melted. Remove carefully and Enjoy!!!
Everybody Should Have The Right Kitchen Tools
I Love Kitchen Tools...Do You?
I Love Kitchen Appliances Do You?
Where it's a retail store or a thrift shop I'm always drawn the the small appliance section. I like gadgets and I also like my work made easier for me. My mixer, food processor or blender is a prize possession to me for cooking. Like a mechanics tools I use them often!
Do You Like Small Kitchen Appliances?
Great Things To Cook With
More Good Tools For The Job!
Food Processors Make Chopping A Breeze...Also Work Wonders When It Comes To A Salad!
More Great Cooking Tools
Helpful Utinsels For The Kitchen
Meatball Shopping List
Ground Beef or Pork or Turkey (or all 3) ;o)))
Onion
Green Pepper
Celery
Garlic (chopped or clove)
Italian Bread Crumbs
Garlic & Herb Seasoning
Eggs
Olive Oil
Tin Foil