Recipe:Italian Herb Baked Meatballs

My little family loves spaghetti and meatballs.

I've made them a lot of different ways, using a lot of different recipes (and occasionally I buy the pre-made ones at Publix because I'm feelin' lazy). 

My guys can usually tell the difference between meatballs made with beef versus ground chicken or turkey. I think it's a consistency thing, although I agree that they do taste different. I don't know that I personally have a preference, but my boys love them some beef!

So, in a compromise, I told Brian I would make meatballs with ground beef once in a while, but that it would have to be organic, grass-fed ground beef, which is $7.99/lb.

For those of you who do not buy organic meat, you can pick your jaw up off the ground now. :) Yes, I know it's about 3x the price of "store brand" ground beef, but after watching the movie, "Food, Inc." I just can't buy it and squish it between my fingers knowing how it was farmed.

Okay, I'm stepping down off my soapbox now...

SO... all of that being said, my favorite brand of organic grass-fed beef was on sale at Publix last week so I made my men some real-deal meatballs. And if I'm gonna spend that kind of money on the meat, you better believe I want the recipe to be amazing.

I did some research and found a recipe that had raving reviews from hundreds of people. But it was a new way of cooking meatballs, which I had never tried before... baking them!

I realize a lot of people have been doing this for years, but I've always cooked them in a skillet. I love the way they taste, but man oh man... the grease! I hate it! It makes such a big mess, I would just rather make something else.

But baking the meatballs (on parchment paper no less) left very little clean up and the meatballs turned out fantastic! So, I adapted the recipe a little bit to my taste and it turned out fantastic!

Here's my new "go-to" meatball recipe:

Italian Herb Baked Meatballs

Ingredients:

• 1 lb. ground beef
• 1/2 cup Italian breadcrumbs
• 1/4 cup FRESH grated Parmesan (plus additional for topping)
• 1/4 cup grated mozzarella cheese
• 3 cloves of garlic, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. dried minced onion
• 1 Tbsp. fresh rosemary, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. fresh parsley, chopped
• 1 Tbsp. fresh basil, chopped
• 1 tsp. kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp. fresh ground black pepper
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten

*If you do not have fresh herbs, you could sub dried herbs instead.

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2. In a large mixing bowl, lightly beat egg and then add all remaining ingredients. Gently combine, but do not over mix or this will result in tough meatballs.

3. Roll approx. 2-3 Tbsp. sized balls and place on lined baking sheet.

4. Bake for 20 minutes.

5. Serve over whole wheat thin spaghetti and top with your favorite spaghetti sauce. And of course some additional shredded Parmesan cheese and chopped basil if you're feelin' fancy.

You could make these meatballs ahead of time and put them in the crock pot with your favorite spaghetti sauce and let them marinate and soften for a few hours. Then cook your spaghetti right before you're ready to eat and, voila! super easy meal prep.

Eliminating that greasy mess has been a total game-changer for me. I hope you will try this recipe and let me know what you think!