Recipe Info Chef Michael's Italian Meatballs

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By Chef.Michael

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Easy

"Easy to make Italian Meatballs. these meatballs are good either in a sauce or by themselves."

This recipe makes approximately 16 2oz. meatballs, 2 meatballs per person.

Prep

45m

Cook

30m

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Category:	Appetizers Meat and Poultry Side Dishes
Seasons
Cuisine Type	Italian
Tags:	ground beef ground pork ground turkey ground chicken

Ingredients

For 8 Serving(s)

Meat and Poultry

1 Pound Ground Beef
1 Pound Ground Pork

Herbs and Spices

1/4 Cup Fresh Parsley (Finely Chopped)
1/4 Cup Fresh Basil (Finely Chopped)
6 Ounces Garlic (Diced)
1 Teaspoon Black Pepper
1/2 Teaspoon Red Pepper (Ground)
1 Tablespoon Fennel Seeds (Ground)

Milk and Dairy

4 Tablespoon Parmesan cheese, grated
2 XLarge Eggs
1/2 Cup Milk

Fruits and Vegetables

1 Large (Approximately 3 Onion (Medium Dice)

Miscellaneous

1/3 Cup Plain Bread Crumbs
2 Tablespoon Olive Oil

Chef Michael's Italian Meatballs Directions

Basil and Parsley, Medium Chopped
Garlic, Finely Chopped
Onion, Medium Diced
Grind up Black Pepper, Red Pepper, and Fennel Seeds. Basically, you are grinding them into a powder.(If you have a Magic Bullet like me that makes the job easier otherwise you need a mortar and pestle.)
Soak bread crumbs black pepper, red pepper, salt, and Italian seasoning in milk in a small bowl for 15- 20 minutes. (It will turn into a paste.)
Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Sautee onions and garlic until translucent, about 15 - 20 minutes.
Mix beef and pork together in a large bowl. Stir onions, breadcrumb mixture, eggs, sweet basil, parsley, and Parmesan cheese into meat mixture with a rubber spatula until combined. Cover and refrigerate for about 1-2 hours or until the mixture is firm to the touch. (You can speed things up if you have a Kitchen Aide Mixer like I do. I mix everything in it and do not need to worry about the mixture getting warm due to physical handling.)
Preheat an oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
Using wet hands, form meat mixture into balls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter or if you have an ice-cream scoop that's even better. (The trick to using an ice-cream scoop is to level off what you pick up. Do not let your mixture be higher than your scoop.)
Cover a baking sheet with a light coating of cooking spray.
Arrange meatballs onto a prepared baking sheet.
Bake in the preheated oven until browned and cooked through 20 to 30 minutes.

Recipe notes

If you are planning on putting these meatballs into a sauce, you can cook them until they are slightly browned and let them cook the rest of the way in your sauce. No less one hour in the sauce.

Do not use these meatballs in a plain unseasoned sauce, it will ruin the flavor of the meatballs.

Please note that you can substitute the ground pork with ground chicken or turkey.

Using an ice-cream scoop the meatballs come out he approximately the size of golf balls.

I have 2 different scoops I use depending on how large I want my meatballs.

2 Tablespoon Scoop

1/2 Cup Scoop