Monday, November 10, 2008

Meatball Monday

What's Meatball Monday? It's the day we learn an easy way to make a large batch of meatballs. The holidays are fast approaching and many of us will be hosting parties. Meatballs, flavored with some type of sauce, make a nice party appetizer.

Use your favorite meatball recipe or try this one:

MEATBALLS

2 lbs. ground beef
2 eggs
1 onion, finely diced
1 TBSP. dried Italian herbs
1 tsp. garlic salt
3/4 cup bread crumbs.

Mix all together until well blended. Form meatballs.

Now comes the part where we throw away the frying pan!

Several years ago a friend taught me how to make meatballs in the oven. It's so easy. Place a large baking sheet in a 400 degree oven for 5 minutes.

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Remove the baking sheet and arrange the meatballs on the hot pan.

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Place the pan back into the oven and reduce the heat to 375 degrees.

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Turn the meatballs every 5-7 minutes

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until all sides are nicely browned.

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Drain well. Serve with your favorite sauce.

You can make up a batch and freeze them until your ready to use them. Just thaw and heat in the microwave or crockpot.

I've seen the frozen meatballs at the grocery store but I get the heebie jeebies thinking about what they're made of. I'm afraid to look at the ingredients list. With this recipe I know it's all fresh ingredients and no mystery stuff. It's easy to make up a large batch, divide them into freezer bags and have on hand for either appetizers or spaghetti dinner.

Have a great Meatball Monday!

15 comments:

Vee said...

Hmmmm, thanks for the recipe and the great idea of baking them. I'm probably going to have to give this a try soon. Isn't Wednesday spaghetti night?

Bella Della said...

Can you have meatballs for breakfast because that is sooo what I want right now? Yummy!

Lena . . . said...

I've been baking my meatballs for years and it works great. My only problem is that I don't turn them as often as I should so sometimes they come out square! Oh, well, they still taste great!!

Anonymous said...

Oooh, think I will try this recipe, and never knew you could freeze them. What a great idea.

Thanks so much for sharing this with the blogging world!

Kara S. said...

Thanks for sharing this! We're getting ready to butcher on our farm (lots of ground beef) and I really wanted to make and freeze some meatballs. I just wasn't sure how. Now I know!!! Yay!!! Thank you!

Rue said...

Hey! I make meatballs like that all the time! In fact I didn't know you could make them any other way. That's how momma always did it. I use her recipe... 1 lb. meat, 3 eggs, 2 cups grated parmesan, 1 cup italian bread crumbs.... hmmmm... It's almost the same :)

Oh and I love your two posts about great- grandma Gussie. She was just the custest little thing ever :)

hugs,
rue

bj said...

I am just thrilled to death that you can BAKE them...I am going to make some, bake and freeze for Christmas company. What kind of dip do you use on yours?
Thanks for the recipe...
bj

Laural Out Loud said...

Do you know how badly I want some meatballs right now? BADLY, lol. I have some ground beef defrosting at home for dinner tonight, and I think I might just have to change my original dinner plans and make some meatballs.

Schnitzel and the Trout said...

What a wonderful idea. Can't imagine why I haven't thought of it before. Creatures of habit, are we?

LDF said...

I'm so glad I dropped in to read your blog this afternoon ... now I know what to make for supper! Actually, I cook a lot of things in the oven this way and freeze for later. Cooking for one is an awful chore unless you freeze extras. Thanks for the supper recipe!

Paula B. said...

hello - lovely to see you are still sharing recipes and tips. Loved the photo and thoughts on G.grandma Gussie.

Hardly read blogs anymore, but wanted to pop in and see what you are up to.

Joy and Phil said...

Suzanne,
In order to encourage the meatballs to stay round and to have all the fat drain away, put the raw meatballs on a wire rack that fits inside the cookie sheet. Spray the rack with vegetable spray to make it easier to wash.

Great blog!
Joy

Jenny of Elefantz said...

Hi Suzanne! My friend Ruth sent me the link to your apron tutorials. I am ALWAYS after apron ideas, I love them!!
I hope you don't mind but I put a link to you on my sewing blog. :-)

Sarah said...

yum! my mom makes these (but in the frying pan) (she calls the Swedish Meatballs) puts them on mash potatoes and cream of mushroom soup. I think we're having this for dinner tonight!
Sarah
Vintage Lily
www.vintagelily.typepad.com

Louise said...

Brilliant!