Perfectly Seasoned Italian Meatballs Recipes

HOMEMADE ITALIAN MEATBALLS

Steps:

• In a large bowl, mix all of the ingredients together.
• Roll into 1 1/2" balls and place them closely together in 9x13 pans that have been sprayed with cooking spray. **You can place a wire rack on the baking sheet and bake the meatballs on the rack so that the fat drips down if you'd like.**
• Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes, or until the meatballs are cooked through.
• Serve the meatballs immediately with sauce and spaghetti, put them in the slow cooker along with sauce to have them simmer, or freeze the meatballs in Ziploc bags to use another time.
• If you freeze the meatballs, allow them to cool completely before packaging them.

CHEF JOHN'S ITALIAN MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Cover a baking sheet with foil and spray lightly with cooking spray.
• Soak bread crumbs in milk in a small bowl for 20 minutes.
• Heat olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir onions in hot oil until translucent, about 20 minutes.
• Mix beef and pork together in a large bowl. Stir onions, bread crumb mixture, eggs, parsley, garlic, salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, Italian herb seasoning, and Parmesan cheese into meat mixture with a rubber spatula until combined. Cover and refrigerate for about one hour.
• 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. Arrange onto prepared baking sheet.
• Bake in the preheated oven until browned and cooked through, 15 to 20 minutes.

GRANDMA'S ITALIAN MEATBALL RECIPE

Steps:

• In a large pot or dutch oven, heat olive oil over medium-low heat. Once hot, add the onion and garlic, sauté until onions are translucent, about 3 minutes.
• Stir in the tomato paste and cook for 1 minute. Stir in the crushed tomatoes, salt, and pepper. Simmer covered, with lid slightly ajar to prevent splattering for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Season with salt and pepper to taste.
• Set the oven rack to the lower-middle position and set it to broil. Line a large baking sheet with foil and lightly grease it with olive oil. Set aside.In a large bowl, add the ground beef, eggs, breadcrumbs, parmesan cheese, minced onion, salt, black pepper, Italian seasoning, and minced garlic. Use hands to mix thoroughly until combined.
• Measure and roll the ground beef mixture into ⅓ cup (3 ounces) rounds, about the size of an egg. Evenly space the pieces on the baking sheet, there should be about 14 to 15 meatballs.
• Broil the meatballs until the surface is browned, about 10 to 12 minutes. Turn over and cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes to lightly brown the other side.
• Transfer the meatballs to the tomato sauce. Cover the pot with the lid slightly ajar, simmer on low heat for at least 1 ½ hours, checking and stirring every 20 minutes, or as needed. The meatballs should be fork tender when sliced.
• At the end of cooking, adjust the consistency of the sauce with water if needed, about 1 tablespoon at a time. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Serve meatballs with spaghetti topped with sauce, sliced basil, and Parmesan cheese.

NINJA FOODI ITALIAN MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Soak bread crumbs in milk in a small bowl for 20 minutes. This will remove the grainy texture some meatballs have.
• Turn Ninja Foodi to Seart/Sauté on MD:HI. Add oil and onions. Cook onions until translucent.
• Mix beef and pork together in a large bowl. Stir onions, bread crumb mixture, eggs, parsley, garlic, salt, black pepper, red pepper flakes, Italian herb seasoning, and Parmesan cheese into meat mixture. Mix well.
• Form meat mixture into balls about 1 1/2 inches in diameter.
• Turn Ninja Foodi to Sear/Sauté MD:HI. Brown all sides of the meatballs in batches in the Foodi.
• These are not cooked all the way through, but you can add to spaghetti and pressure cook, or throw in the oven for about 15-20 minutes At 425°. Or freeze until you decide how to use them.

ITALIAN MEATBALL SEASONING

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 200°. Place bread on an ungreased baking sheet. Bake for 20 minutes. Turn; bake until dried, 15-20 minutes loner. Place bread in a blender or food processor; cover and process until crumbly. Add seasonings. Store in an airtight container in a cool, dry place for up to 6 months. Yield: 2 batches (about 2 cups total)., To prepare meatballs: In a bowl, combine eggs, milk, 1 cup seasoned bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese, garlic and pepper. Crumble beef over mixture and mix well. Shape into 1-1/2-in. balls. In a large skillet, brown meatballs in oil; cook until meat is no longer pink. Drain on paper towels.

PERFECTLY SEASONED ITALIAN MEATBALLS

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• In larger sized mixing bowl mix together milk and eggs.
• Break bread in pieces and soak in milk-egg mixture until bread falls apart and it becomes a fairly well mixed consistency.
• Add in seasoning packets and all optional seasoning. Stir until well incorporated.
• Take off all rings and jewelry and add ground meat to mixture. Use your hands to mix until all ingredients are well blended.
• Mix in parmesan cheese.
• Allow mixture to rest for about 15 minutes. This gives it a chance to firm up so it will be easier to work with.
• Form into balls that are between the size of a walnut and an apricot, they will be soft so be gentle.
• Place on cookie sheets and try to space out enough that they don't touch once on the pan. I do 20 to 30 per pan depending on how much of a hurry I am inches.
• Bake at 400 for 25-30 minutes or until cooked through. If I feel vigilant I broil them for about 5 minutes right at the end. If you skip that step they are still tasty.
• Pull out of oven and cool on the pan or drain on paper towels if you so desire.
• Eat them as appetizers or add to your favorite pasta dish.
• NOTE: If this is a larger batch than you plan to eat you can freeze extras for later use. One other option is to roll out as many as you want and use the rest of the mixture to make meat loaf. Put meat mixture in a loaf pan and bake it at 350 for an hour. Drain excess fat off when you pull pan out of the oven and then allow to cool completely in the pans before slicing.

THE PERFECT ITALIAN MEATBALL

Steps:

• Place all above ingredients in a medium sized bowl and mix thoroughly by hand until they are completely combined and the mixture is uniformly firm. Coat your hands in olive oil, and using your hands form mixture into 3-4 oz. balls Drop the meatballs into Fabio's tomato sauce (see recipe here) and add some water so that the sauce can reduce and simmer. Let cook for about 10 minutes on one side. Turn them over, add some more water and cook for another 10 minutes, covering in the sauce with a spoon as they simmer. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving. Garnish with chopped parsley, salt and pepper, more shaved parmegiano reggiano and a drizzle of olive oil, of course! Sauce: Smash 6 cloves of garlic with the back of a knife. Over medium heat, cook garlic in 3 Tbsp. of EVOO until golden brown. Add tomatoes and generous pinch of salt and pepper. Cook until thick (about 8 to 10 minutes) and is no longer watery in consistency. Add 3 more Tbsp. more of EVOO, turn to higher heat. Crush tomatoes with the back of a wooden spoon. Cook until the oil turns red. This will tell you the sauce is done! Cook's Note: The sauce is very versatile and can be used with any pasta; added to meats, fish, vegetables; or topped on toasted crostini, breads, pizza crusts.